Drifter
by Jimmy Candlestick
Summary: First, someone quits. Then, a new driver appears. Then, Shirako crashes and is saved by the driver. Then, Markie crashes and is taken by the driver. Are thes makings of a good story? Eh, I'll let you decide. No language. FINISHED! [Grins evily]
1. Prologue

Prologue

It was 7:30 in the morning when Lani pulled into the new Acceledrome. She got out of the car looking a little confused. She just didn't understand.

By the time she got to the conference room, she finally realized the drivers weren't working on their cars like they usually did this time in the morning. She opened the door and found out why.

Dr. Tezla had called a meeting to discuss…whatever it was he deeded to discuss. He was the secretive type.

All eyes were upon Lani as she entered. All had the same question. Karma finally broke the silence, "where were you?"

"The airport." The answer brought a few eyebrows up.

"Why?"

"I was, uh, following, uh…" Her eyes darted to the empty seat.

"Where'd he go?" This time Nolo spoke up. It had been on his mind since Breakfast.

"He, uh, he quit."

"What?!" came the chorused response. Everyone but Markkie looked surprised. He actually looked kind of downcast. Shirako, of course didn't hear a thing.

"That's what he told me." She finished lamely. She watched them as they let it sink in. Kurt Wylde had just quit Teku.


	2. Home or 4 weeks later

25 year old Kurt Wylde awoke from a fitful doze as the plane touched down. It had been 4 weeks since he quit Teku. 4 weeks of torture. 2 hours of sleep each night for 4 weeks straight. He was sure that the first time he took that training course was a lot easier than it was this time. Oh, well, home at last.

"Welcome to Louisville International Airport, if you have a connecting flight to…" _ugh, the last time I'll have to hear than in a while._ He thought, than quickly added, _hopefully._

A drifter, he had to travel a lot, helping FBI, Police Departments, and the occasional Private Investigator. Those didn't come up very often. They did have to help every once in a while with military operations over seas.

Ah yes, Drifters. Not the wandering kind mind you, they're a military branch. They were called that because of assignments that carried them all around the country, they never stayed long though. If they had to go under cover, they tried not to make deep friendships, and when that mission was done, they no longer made contact with those people. They also lead double lives it wasn't sage to let many people know about your job.

Kurt got up from his seat, grabbed his backpack and headed to the baggage claim. Man it felt good to be home. He looked down at his right hand, the blackish spot the chip made, was for some reason welcoming. He grabbed his duffel and headed out the doors to the side walk. There he pressed a small button on his watch and waited.

Presently a black car drove up, it was piece of art. It looked a little like an Acura HSC Concept and a Ford Mustang mixed together, and bigger. It had a built in computer (kinda like the ones police officers have in their cars but better.), could change colors,(not pink. To girly.) and you could put designs on it by the computer. It also had a sound system that would put Bassline to shame. It had Submarine mode, and jet mode, making it an all terrain car. Literally. It went 300 mph under water, 500 on the ground, and 700 in the air. Kurt was 18 when he built and designed the car himself. (the idea to build it was actually conceived at 17.) It also had a security system. If your handprint or glove design wasn't programmed in, it would send and electrical (is there any other kind?) shock through your body, rendering you unconscious.

_Man, when's the last time I drove this thing?_ It was so smooth, and quiet. It made his cars he had with Teku, seem like junk. _Where am I gonna go first. _He knew he should get some sleep, but he missed this city so much.

25 minutes later, he pulled up to a humongous Church's parking lot. He walked in the front doors and gave himself a tour of the huge building. An hour and a half later, he was walking back to his car.

Pretty soon he was walking up to the twin spires of Churchill Downs, when he saw a familiar face.

"Hey Jim!"

"Kurt! Where've you been?" A short stocky man with thinning brown hair walked up, "You've missed some great races, and Keeneland's wondering when your gonna send some more horses."

"Good to see you to," was the smiling reply," here and there, I'll give 'em soon."

" Hope so, horses haven't been great racers lately."

"Yeah, something to do with being injured lately right?"

"Yup. Hey you look tired. Long trip?"

"Very."

"Than go get some sleep, world won't die if you don't!"

"Okay, I get the point, you wish I never showed up. Bye!" Chuckling he walked away with Jim calling after, "that's not what I meant!"

Finally, after about 5 more stops he pulled into a long driveway with an electrical gate. Acres and acres of lush wooded and grassy land were in front of him. In the middle was a huge mansion, off to his left were the stables and the grooms houses. He could see groups of horses inside fenced areas, behind the mansion was a huge lake. He drove straight for it, an extension of the drive came up above the water, a great whirlpoolish hole opened in the middle of the lake, he went down the circling path and into the under water garage. Home at last.


	3. Engulfing flames

Nolo Pisaro looked over at the space that was usually taken up by Kurt's car. For what seemed like the thousandth time this week, he wondered why Kurt didn't tell him about quitting. When Tone died, they became close as brothers. So, why didn't he say anything?

Over on the Metal Maniacs side, Taro was beginning to doubt the innocence of Kurt again._ Should've known. He was probably spying again._ He mentioned it every once in a while, getting angry glares from Markkie, or "Wylde" as he liked to be called, slight nods from Dr. Tezla, unsure ones from Lani and Vert, and confused ones from everyone else.

"Hey Taro," he looked up to see Tork walking up.

"Hey."

"You wanna tell me what's goin' on?"

"With what?"

"With your talking about Kurt being a spy."

"Oh, that. 2 years ago Tezla had called up the best racers from around the world. Me, Vert, Wylde, Kurt, Lani, and Kadeem were among them."

"Kadeem?" Tork looked confused.

"Uh, yeah. He was racing in the storm realm before you got here, flew off the track some how. Anyway, it indeed up that Kurt was spying for Gelorum, Kadeem was actually the one who found out."

"So-" Tork was interrupted by an alarm; a new realm was opening. (I'm surprised there are still more.)

Dr. Tezla's voice came over the intercom, "will the following drivers enter the realm: Karma Eiss, Shirako Takamoto, Vert Wheeler, Mark Wylde, Mitchell Mclurg, Taro Kitano.

"It's Monkey!" came the familiar response. Shirako, once more, wasn't paying attention, and had to be tapped on the shoulder and told. Karma and Taro smiled at each other across the room. Markkie just looked up wondering if Kurt was going to join in. As for Vert, well, he had just a hint of smugness on his face, thinking he'd probably win. As usual. Monkey, looked nervous. As Usual.

The drivers got in their cars and started for the portal. Lani's voice came over the radio (thingy) "this realm is called the blind realm."

"Okay," Vert replied, "what's that supposed to mean?"

"um," Lani quickly looked at Dr. Tezla for an answer. Unfortunately he looked just as confused as she was, "I'm not sure."

"We'll be driving in total darkness," to everyones surprise, the voice belonged to Markkie, who immediately bit his tongue and called himself an idiot.

"How do yo-"

"Just do." By that time they had entered, each turning on their headlights. However, that didn't work.

"So, I guess this is how it got its name, It's just like being blink," Monkey said with a quaking voice. If the Maniacs only recruited drivers that didn't have big fears of driving in dangerous realms, he wouldn't have made the cut. Vert was getting frustrated, "great! How do we get through?!" Every one was a bit confused, even Shirako's usual happy laid back demeanor was gone.

"There's got to be a way, Lani! What's the skill for this realm?" Only Taro seemed to be calm still.

"Working on it. Um, I'm not sure it has one."

"Lani," this time Karma was talking, "I tested that drone for hours, every ting pointed to skills for each realm." Was Karma getting angry, perhaps? "Wylde, you knew what this realm was going to be like, I don't suppose you know what to do, do you?"

"But Lani's ri-" He stopped in mid sentence because all of the sudden a flaming car rushed by. It suddenly stopped, and went dark.

"Wo. Cool." Shirako seemed to be the only one not weirded out by it.

"Let's follow it."

"What? Wylde, are you crazy?!" Monkey, I think It's safe to say, was terrified of that thing. I mean, come on! Cars engulfed in flames don't exactly show up every day, "look, we can't even see it anymore, and we don't know if it's safe!"

"I see it." They all looked, sure enough it was in flames again, and closer. It turned around and stared going again. Dr.Tezla spoke up, "follow it, do exactly what it does."

They exchanged glances, (though, they couldn't see each other very well.) and obeyed.

"It reminds me of a dog." Vert couldn't help but notice.

After abut 5 minutes, they began hearing things. Footsteps, cars starting up, animals. It was literally like experiencing things from a blind person's perspective.

All of the sudden, without warning, something crashed into Shirako, hurling him to the side. The mysterious car's flames were extinguished and something whizzed pall them. They had all stopped and Vert who, oddly enough, was in last, saw Bassline's (how many is he gonna build?) door open, and Shirako being dragged out. Weird thing was, when he left the car, Vert couldn't see him anymore.

As he was staring into the darkness, his car door on the passenger side, opened. Vert looked in shock as the still form of his Asian teammate, and the unknown driver appeared.

Half of Shirako's face was covered in blood, his bleeding leg was twisted painfully, and his breathing ragged. The driver was wearing jeans, a now blood soaked white shirt, with a brownish jacket on, he also had a black helmet on. He put Shirako on the seat, and carefully strapped him in. Looking up to Vert he said, "He's got a concussion, a few broken ribs, and his leg is broken. Drive as smooth as you can, and make sure Lani takes care of him as soon as possible." With that the door shut, and they were following the car again, which was going faster that before.

"Lani, I've got Shirako."

"How is he?" Vert quickly told her Shirako's condition. _Who's the driver? He reminds me of someone._

Whoever the driver was, he got them to the end in 15 minutes. They exited and Lani took Shirako to the infirmary. Everyone had the same question on their mind, who was the driver? Well, everyone except for Markkie, who seemed to know more than he let on.


	4. Garage, Crystals, Sister, and Dog

The room was huge, and dark. Lights turned on. The car was 2 minutes away. The walls were glass, the surroundings were water. It was obviously a lake, from the looks of the fish and the color of the water.

At one end of the room, a black hologram of the wheel was floating in air. The portal was silver, so were the symbols on the wheel.

On the other side of the room was a rock wall with a door in the middle. One side had a table covered with designs of engines and cars. A computer (or computers) was placed along side, going against the wall until it touched the glass.

In the middle of the room was a spiraling track going toward the surface of the lake. In the middle of that were stairs going below to a room that seemed to glow all by itself.

On both sides were about ten or more black cars. They had different builds, but a familiar quality.

A car covered in flames entered through the portal. The flames disappeared, the driver stepped out. He was wearing jeans, a bloody white shirt , and a brownish jacket. He took off his black helmet and revealed the face of Kurt Wylde.

He looked around, his eyes landing on the glowing room, he headed for it. (Now my dear reader, we will find out why it glows.) Inside the room was a thick bullet proof door. It was mostly steel, but had an outline of glass, with steel than a window in the middle. He opened it, revealing little, seemingly glass, cylinders. Inside each was a beautiful crystal.

Each crystal stood for a realm. For instance, the lava realm crystal had a lava rock, mixed with a jewel that looked like a hardened, still red, piece of lava. Its color more intense, more captivating that the most perfect ruby you could ever find. It shown like fire.

The ice realm, it looked like a shard of diamond. Yet so purely white, it looked like snow, with dashes of icy blue.

The swamp realm, muddy rock with a greenish, watery, colored diamond. Even though the realm itself wasn't that pretty, the crystal was.

As for the blind realm. There isn't anything pretty about it. Never was. It was coal black, with no shine. The only sign that it was a crystal, was the feel.

But that's what Kurt was looking for. He picked up the cylinder it was in, which immediately turned to steel in his hand. He opened it, and took the crystal out, remembering how he came about it.

He had been driving in the realm, with a 12 year old Markie sitting beside him. He was driving slowly, figuring out his way, while the computer recorded his every movement. Kurt's twin sister Jo, was in another car not far away. After a few minutes, a car hit him hard. When he came to, he was back in the garage with worried siblings looking down on him. Jo had something black in her hand. It was another crystal.

He put the crystal back and checked his watch. 2 a.m. he wanted to check on Shirako, but he was really feeling the effects of the grueling 4 week course. He'd check up with Markie tomorrow.

He walked to the doors, entered an elevator, and went up. Soon he was joined by a huge, all black, half wolf, half German shepherd dog.

"Well boy, I guess I'm gonna have to turn professional Drifter tomorrow, huh? No more street racer. Heh, wonder what Teku'd say about me being a horse breeder, and military."

The dog just looked up bored, as if to say, 'do you think really care?'


	5. When angry people talk Sometimes

_Shirako's leg has been taken care of, his ribs are taped, head bandaged, and he hasn't woken up yet._ Lani mentally checked off the list. She than went to find Vert.

The blonde was found in the Teku side of the garage, messing with his car. Actually it was more like working on it.

"Vert, how did you know Shirako had a concussion?" Lani surprised him, and he bumped his head on the hood of the car.

"I didn't, that driver told me," came hurried answer.

"The driver of that car you guys were following?"

"Yeah."

"Who was he?"

"I don't know, he had a helmet on. But he reminded me of someone, he also knew who you were. How's Shirako?"

"He'll be fine."

"Good." Okay, conversation over. She was now off to find Markie. He'd been acting weird the past few hours. Where was he? She found everyone else easily, and he was usually easy to find to.

On the Metal Maniac side Tork was working on his car, Porkchop and Monkey were playing…checkers? Taro and Karma (of course) were talking and working on his car at the same time, though it was mostly talking. And no Markie. There was no way he'd be on Teku side.

Conference room? No.

Cafeteria? No.

Computer room? No.

She was about to scream his name,(she was getting frustrated) when she turned and bumped into him, "Lani! Watch where you're going, please!"

"Where were you? I've been looking all over this place!"

"How's Shirako?"

"Fine! Don't change the subject!"

"Good, he looked almost dead when he was pulled out of Reverb."

"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!!!" Oh yes, Lani wasn't just frustrated, she was mad.

"Fine, what do you want?"

"How did you know what the realm was going to be like?" She wasn't screaming, but she still looked like she could kill someone, anyone, right now.

"I just did, the name kinda gave a clue. Is Dr.Tezla done testing the accelecharger yet?" (the driver hadn't taken it when he got through.)

"Maybe Dr.Tezla wasn't trying to think that hard. How should I know if he's done testing it or not? Why is everyone asking about the driver, and you aren't?"

"Maybe I don't care about who the driver is."

"Oh come on! A new driver means more competition. How could you, of all people, not care who the driver is?"

"What kind of competitor helps out those who he's racing against?"

"So you can think logically! Vert said he knew who I was."

"Than maybe he's a driver from 2 years ago!"

"How could he? These realms are new, they're not the same as Highway 35 realms."

"Okay. But I still don't know who he is!" With that, he walked off. He didn't want to answer questions, and Lani was positive he knew a lot more.


	6. Work

BEEP BEEP BEEP BE- Kurt slammed the top of the alarm clock and looked at the time. 5:30 am. Ah! Nothing beats having 3 and a half hours of sleep. He got up took a shower, and than went down to the stables. Well, he tried to. That bed never felt more comfortable in his entire life. _Get up._ So much easier thought than done, but he did it, and that did all those other things I mentioned.

800 horses, only about 50 were in the stables. One of them was a black 3 yr. old Kurt had chosen to be his own, before he got the "Wheel of Power" assignment. That's a really dorky name. The thing itself isn't, but the name is. Reminds me of the ring, from "The Lord of the Rings." I mean, it's got so much energy, no one man can handle it alone, and there's practically a whole war because of it. But there's no Dark Lord who created it, (Unless the Accelerons are evil) and there's no immediate reason to destroy it.

But now I'm getting off track. Sorry. Anyway, Kurt headed straight for it. When he got to the stall, he just leaned against its door, looking the horse over. It was a big horse. About 16 to 17 hands high. Good strong chest, not too wide, not too narrow. Legs were perfect, the knees not too high, and not too low. A proud neck, and smallish head with blazing eyes. This guy had both spirit, and speed.

"Hey big guy. You like this place? Or is 1500 acres too small for you." The horse snorted in response.

"Hey boss." Kurt turned to see a 20 yr. old Mexican approaching him.

"Hey Ramón. Ya'll named him yet?" he nodded toward the horse in front of him.

"Now, isn't that your job?"

"Yeah." He decided to name him now, and he didn't feel like creating a name, so he chose something he saw on a "Welcome to Kentucky" sign at the airport. "Unbridled Spirit."

"Ummm…No offense, or anything, but, that's kind of unoriginal.

"I know, I don't feel like being creative. Did you send for you sister yet?" Ramón had immigrated to the country at 16, he came to work as a groom for Kurt, and was saving money to bring his sister here from Mexico.

"Yup. She's here actually. She's kind of shy, that's why you didn't see her yesterday."

"Okay. Uh, I gotta go to work, see ya later."

"Adios!" 

Before he could even call his car, Andrea Grey came up.

"You need to make a decision today or tomorrow."

"Huh?" Andrea managed things around here, and wouldn't let him go if something needed to be done, or answered, by him.

"Keeneland's asking for horses. You need to choose them today or tomorrow."

"Uh, I'll try tomorrow."

"Do it. Can I get off around 4:30?"

"Andrea, you live here, it's not like you need to go home by car, or something."

"Brian's taking me to dinner." Oooooh, Brian, her fiancé.

"Sure."

"Thanks." She turned and left to go delegate jobs. Than Kurt left. Leaving behind him 2,000 acres for a day. ONLY ONE DAY! NOT 2 YEARS!!!

He got to the "office" 1 hr. later. After going through security, he was met by Jin Li. Or, Scarface. She had one big scar over her right eye, knife wound. She was 5 yr. older than Kurt, Asian, and his mentor. Okay, she trained him for 6 months after he came from the Marine Corps. (You see, every Drifter came from a military position or another government thing because they stood out.) she was born in Japan, moved to Korea when she was 8, than China when she was 12, and America at age 16. So, she was responsible for teaching those 3 Asian languages.

"Hello Kurt."

"Scarface," that earned him a free trip to the ground on his back.

"We left you plenty of paperwork on you desk."

"Thanks."

"Major Wheeler wants a full report. And so does Pentagon."

"Isn't he at Pentagon?"

"No, still at SHQ."

"'Kay." He started going up some stairs to his office.

"Don't forget to get some target practice in too."

"Don't worry." He entered the room that was often home for hours of a day._ They did leave me a lot of paperwork didn't they?_

There it stood. A man-made mountain of white paper and manila folders. Emails were probably in abundance too.

3 hours later a tall African American came through the door, "so you're still in one piece."

"As always. How've you been Doc?"

"Without you, I don't work half as hard. Thanks though. For not coming in covered with blood. Like last time."

He was referring to a mission that happened 3 years ago. A police officer was being held hostage in a warehouse just outside of town. Classic. LMPD couldn't get to them, so they called the Drifters for help. Kurt led a team of 10 in, but they didn't expect 35 hostiles. (The good guys are always outnumbered. But they always win.) Kurt was hit by two bullets, one in the leg, and the other just missing his heart. He still somehow took out 3 men before collapsing. Drifters had to be taken to their own medical bay, so they wouldn't be traced. Doc had to do emergency surgery to get the bullet out. But, obviously he lived.

"Doc, I just got back from training, give me a break."

"You got back from training yesterday. How's your brother?"

"Last I checked, fine. He's got a robotic arm. Drones got a hold of him."

"That'll hurt next year, around the time it happened."

"I know, it scares me too. He's still racing. If he's in a race and it starts hurting, it could be bad."

"Hmm…Don't worry, he's a Wylde. Ya'll are tougher than you look at first."

"Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment."

3 more hours passed, he was only halfway done. He decided to get some target practice in, than head home. First, he was going to check on Shirako. Taking out his cell phone, (which is a sweet government issued one, that can get service anywhere.) he quickly dialed his brothers number.

"_Hello?"_

"Markie? It's Kurt."

"_Hey! Your secret's safe, but Lani suspects."_

"Okay, how's Shirako?"

"_He'll live."_

"Good. He had a nasty hit to the head."

"_Great, now you sound like the Hardy Boys or something."_

"You read those?"

"_In 5th grade. It was a nightmare."_

"Yeah, see ya little bro. Gotta get some target practice in before I head home."

"_Bye. Please don't call me little."_

"Whatever _little_ brother." He emphasized the word little and hung up. _Better check with SHQ, see if they've had Drone activity in the realms. Than target practice._


	7. Headaches hurt

His head felt like he was in a non-pressurized airplane. Why couldn't he move his leg? Where was he anyway? Opening his eyes, he saw a blinding light, and everything was blurry. He started to sit up, but the room started spinning. He reached to touch his head._ Why does my head hur-MY HEADPHONES!!!_

Lani walked in just in time to see Shirako sitting up quickly, looking from side to side.

"Shirako, calm down. What's the matter? You shouldn't sit up so quickly, what's wrong?"

"What happened, where are headphones? Bassline! Is she okay?!" Wo. That's got to be the most he's ever said at one time. At least in front of Lani. Thankfully Nolo walked in, obviously used to the Asian freaking out about his two most precious possessions in life, "Calm down man, here are your headphones, and Bassline's still in the realm."

_Headphones! Music!_ Shirako immediately reached for them, but was quickly stopped by Lani.

"No loud music, you need to give your head a rest." Shirako looked devestated.That guy has a problem. Than he remembered the headache once more. Those things hurt.

"What happened?" Came the quiet, pained question.

"What do you remember?" Lani had to know if any memory loss had happened.

"We were following that fire car thing, and than something hit me, and I was thrown against something hard, than waking up just now." Good, no problems.

"Yeah, that's what happened," Vert had just entered, "than that driver took you over to my car."

"Who was he?"

"No one knows," Lani was having a hard time believing he was talking this much, he always seemed so quiet.

Shirako nodded in reply, looking like he was gonna go to sleep.

"Shirako, I need you to stay awake," Lani sounded a little urgent, "you have a concussion."

He nodded again, grabbed the headphones and turned them on. Lani tried to take it away, but to no avail. So, she kept on trying while Nolo, and Vert exited the room.

Turning the corner, they ran into Markie, who seemed to be carrying something in his hand.

"Hey Wylde, stop." He turned around and faced the Teku leader.

"What."

"Do you have any idea why Kurt quit without telling me?"

"Why would I?" That was a quick response, with a bit of anger in it. Vert was quick to notice, "getting a little defensive are ya? He tell you anything?"

"Why would he?" Yes, definitely defensive.

"He's your brother, why wouldn't he?"

"He's my _older_ brother. Older siblings don't exactly talk freely with you. But, considering you're and only child, you wouldn't know."

"What's in your hand?" This time Nolo was talking.

"Nothing, don't you have something to do?" He clutched whatever was in his hand a little harder, and walked away.

The two Teku glanced at each other, and couldn't help but wonder, what he did know. The Wylde family must've been very secretive. They're gonna have to keep closer tabs on him.


	8. hostages 6, hostiles 40, lucky number 13

2 days after he got back, Kurt finally got done with all the paperwork, and caught up with all his emails, most of which were pointless questions his co-workers thought up to get on his nerves. Don't ya just love friends? He hated paperwork, so right now, all he wanted to do was head a raid, or discipline the "recruits," as they called the new kids.

He got up from his chair and headed to the break room. People were already arriving for the night shift. _Probably won't have anything to do. It's been slow._ As if on cue a call came in, saying a small group of teenagers had been taken hostage at a high school about 5 minutes out. LMPD estimated about 40 hostiles in the building, all had snipers.

"Since when did this city get this violent? A couple gangs causing trouble used to be the worst we'd hear about," Kurt commented to fellow field agent.

"Dunno, maybe they heard you were finally able to come out and play."

"Funny." If you ever had a run in with Drifters, or met someone that knows about them, you would mostly hear of Kurt and Rebekah Anderson, maybe some others. But mostly them, they were the best in the business, and only the crazy bad guys thought they could beat them.

10 minutes later, Kurt was heading a team of 13 (I don't know why it's considered unlucky). During the ride over, the whole team prayed, they always did before something like this. Most Drifters were Christians, it helped knowing that someone was watching over you during something dangerous.

They soon arrived. Kurt asked for the head officer on the scene.

"Officer Patterson? Kurt Wylde," he said reaching out his hand.

"Drifter? Good. Here's the situation, about 10 hours ago, a group of about 40 men entered the building. From security cameras, we know the hostages are all teenage boys, between 16 and 18 years of age. Parents are over there." He pointed to a group of about 10 adults, "16 kids, two are brothers. We've been trying to negotiate, we tried force about an hour ago, but some of them have snipers. Two men down. We decided ya'll could handle it better."

"Thanks, can I see where the kids are, do you have a blueprint?"

"Sure, over here," The officer led him to a squad car with the blueprints lying on the hood.

"Thanks. Bob!" Kurt called to a young man in his group.

"Yeah boss?"

"Call for a military chopper will ya?"

"Sure thing."

Officer Patterson looked at him questioningly, "Why military?"

"Armor, good against snipers."

Two and a half hours later, a big Black Hawk came flying in. Kurt and his team climbed in, they all knew where the kids were. They were going to come from opposite sides, hoping to surround them inside.

10 minutes later, Kurt and his group were approaching a hostile, he ordered silencers on. Two seconds later, the guy was lying on the floor, a bullet to his head. Unfortunately, another guy saw it and called an alarm. Great, that's just what they need.

"Go, go, go!" Now that they were spotted, they could yell.

10 men came out of one of the class rooms. All had sub-machine guns. Fun. But they didn't get to use 'em, they were all dead in about five seconds, bullets and knives took them down.

On the other side, the second team had their fair share of bad guys too. 15. Which were all dead in not even 10 seconds.

Down went three more on the other side. The remaining 10 hostiles were no where to be seen, until six came out with the boys in front of them acting as a shield. The other four began shooting at the teams.

Someone got grazed by a bullet, a girl behind Kurt was hit in the leg. But soon enough, all hostiles were eliminated, the kids safe and all injuries were being treated.

"I heard you guys were good, but I didn't think you were that good," an officer commented to Kurt.

"What do you mean by that good?"

"After entering the building, I think you only took about fifteen minutes."

Kurt just nodded. Looking over to the happy reunion between the boys and their parents, he smiled. Mission accomplished.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

**Jimmy Candlestick stopped writing, and sighed, _I watch too much T.V._**


	9. Lumberjack Heaven

Markie walked warily down the hall to his room. He'd been cornered at least ten times, everyone wanted to know what he knew. By now he wanted to go home, and disappear.

He stopped by the infirmary, and saw Shirako staring at the wall listening to music, and not smiling. Before he could start off again, he was spotted by the nineteen-year-old.

"Hey Shirako, how're you feeling?"

"Okay, I'm tired of sitting here doing nothing, my head hurts, and I actually want to talk!" his Japanese accent got stronger with each word.

"I know ho you feel, when the Drones had me, I felt like talking to a two-year-old, if one showed up."

The Asian smiled, "well, I don't feel like talking to a two-year-old, but even Porkchop would do."

"Man, you are desperate. See ya later." He walked off, thankful Shirako wasn't questioning him about the driver, than he remembered that Shirako didn't hear him talking about the realm.

The alarm went off, another realm. Of course.

"Nolo Pisaro, Karma Eiss, Vert Wheeler, Tork Maddox, Deezel Riggs, Mark Wylde." Here we go again.

Soon, all six were in their cars heading for the portal. Lani told them the name of the realm, "It's the Forest Realm. The skill is-" she was cut off for a second when they went through the portal.

They were met by huge trees, with an average circumference of a mile 'round, the next thing they noticed were the bigger than normal songbirds. A deer thirty feet tall bounded over the track. A mile wide creek was off to their right. Well, it was supposed to be a creek, to the drivers it looked like a river.

Ten minutes of uneventful track (except for the occasional falling tree, wild animal crossing, and unexpected twist and turn of the road) later, they heard a loud roaring. Everyone stopped and got out. To their right, about a football field's length away, was the most incredible thing they had ever seen.

Every once in a while, they thought they saw something black and green behind them. It looked like a car, or a group of cars. The drivers just weren't sure.

A huge black bear was facing four or five wolves, wolves that were about as big as a house. The bear was twice their size, and fighting them. With one swing of its huge paw, the bear threw the biggest wolf three yards away from it, the other wolves attacked. After another ten minutes had passed, the bear limped away, herding two cubs, as big as cars, away. The wolves, whimpering, dashed toward the track.

The drivers hurried to their cars, but weren't fast enough. A wolf saw them, and had decided that they were something to play with. It quickly chose a car and batted it away with its paw. Unfortunately, it hit the driver of that car too, and the driver just happened to be Markie.

He and his car flew off the track, but before the wolf could give chase, a big black car suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was soon engulfed in flames. The wolf fled before the one thing all animals respected and feared.

The car extinguished its fire and drove off the track, in the direction Markie and his car had been hit. The Teku and Metal Maniacs followed as best as they could.

When they caught up, they saw the driver leaning over the injured Maniac. Markie was covered in blood, the wolf had scratched him. The mysterious driver was holding something against Markie's stomach, while checking the injuries.

When he heard the other cars coming up, he reached for something under his jacket. But quickly went back to work when he saw it was only them. However, he still seemed to expect something else might come, the way he kept looking around.

Tork was the first to speak, "how is he?"

The driver sighed heavily, looked up, and simply said, "I don't know if he'll make it," his voice seemed to shake a little.

He was looking back down, when his head jerked up, and his hand shot for whatever was beneath his jacket. The other drivers looked around too, but all seemed well.

The driver looked over to his car, and said something in a foreign language, the car drove closer to him.

He looked up and asked, "will you help me put him in my car? He's heavier than the last time I had to carry him."

_What does he mean by that?_ Karma thought, but only said, "we have someone that can take care of him."

"Lani doesn't have enough experience to take care of his injuries!" Came the rather sharp reply.

Tork walked up and helped him put Markie in the car. Once they were done, they saw that the driver's clothes were covered in blood. He must've moved Markie from a different position.

A rustling came from the bushes behind them. The driver obviously knew what it was this time, because he ordered them into their cars, and pulled a gun out. Five Drones came out of the brush. However, before they could do anything, the driver had shot them all down.

"Go!" came an order they quickly obeyed. The driver also got in his car, and they all headed to the track. Before anyone else knew what was happening, the black car zoomed pass them, and had disappeared when they got to the track. Once again, when they approached the portal, they saw that the driver had not taken the accelecharger.

When they landed, they half expected him to be there, but instead, they were now left to wonder who he was, and if Markie would be okay.


	10. Chaplain Conversation

Kurt had been praying ever since he got back in the car. Markie lay beside him, hardly breathing, and not moving. _God, please not again. Don't take him away yet. I can't handle a fourth death. _He believed with all his heart that God heard, and would do what was in his plan. But every time he looked at Markie, he wasn't sure God's will was what he wanted it to be.

Kurt exited the realm, and without even slowing down for half a second, he headed for the medical bay at Kentucky's Drifter head quarters. By now he had turned invisible, so he wouldn't freak out other drivers.

When he got to the emergency entrance of the MB (as they all called it), after what seemed an eternity, he quickly got out and called for help. A stretcher was brought out, and Markie was immediately put under Doc's care.

Doc was a former field medic, in his military days. He was the best doctor for severe injuries that needed to be treated immediately. He knew how to stay calm when it was especially important to keep your hand steady, and to treat things correctly.

Kurt was sitting outside the room, praying, and waiting for Doc's "verdict." Peter Brown walked in. He was a chaplain in the army, and often held a Bible study during the weekend.

"Hey. How is he?" He wasn't exactly sure what to say. Usually it was Markie sitting there, waiting to see how Kurt was.

"Don't know. Doc's still in there."

"Want me to pray?"

"Please." And so he did. Everyone knew Markie, and also didn't want him to die.

"Kurt?" Pete asked after about an hour.

"Yeah."

"I need to go. But, what ever God's will is, He'll still be there when you need him. If Markie…" he couldn't say it, "God will be there all the more. He loves your brother too. He knows what's best for both of you."

"You probably told Markie that a lot, huh?"

"Yeah. 'Cept than I could stay longer, and pray more."

Kurt kind of laughed, and nodded, "thanks Pete."

"Welcome. By the way, just to let you know, I think you Wylde's are to tough to die like this," in his head he added,_ of course, I could be wrong. _Thankfully, Kurt didn't seem to notice his unspoken doubt, and he left. Leaving Kurt to continue his praying, at least a little comforted.


	11. Scripted

"So let me get this straight," Lani, and the rest of the drivers, were getting the story, "he said I didn't know how to treat injuries? He doesn't even know me!"

"No, he said you didn't have enough experience," the reply came from Porkchop.

"I probably could've treated those wounds successfully!"

"He had a gun! Do you think we'd argue with someone that could kill us?!" Vert had this fear of guns. Wait, doesn't everybody?

"Oh, so now you tell me about the gun. Did you get his name?"

"Wylde was covered in blood, the guy didn't think he'd make it, Drones popped up out of no where, and you wanted us to get his name?!" Taro was getting a little frustrated.

Lani sat there a minute, "He's right."

"About what?"

"If Wylde was really that bad off, I would've had trouble."

Everybody just sat there in silence. Monkey spoke up, "how do we find out if Wylde's okay?"

"We all ho in until we ask the driver," Taro spoke up.

Vert answered this proposal with the words, "but how? That guy went a lot faster than any of us did."

"Strategy, we have to surround him, that's why everybody has to go."

Karma spoke, "he seemed concerned about Wylde, how do we know he'll be back soon. He may want to stay where ever Wylde is until he knows he's okay."

Nolo looked at her, "how do you know he was worried? He was wearing a helmet we couldn't see through."

Shirako replied for her, "intuition. All women have it. It's kind of like when your Mom knows you're stealing cookies." He must do some thinking.

"And the way he reacted when w told him we had someone to take care of Wylde," Karma said, glaring at Shirako.

"But, that could've meant that his injuries really were too bad for Lani to treat," Nolo responded.

"I'm not saying they weren't as serious as he said they were. I'm just saying that he seemed a little too concerned for a stranger that happened to know about the realms, and isn't part of the other teams we raced."

"The only other person that knows Lani, and cares for him that much is Kurt. And he doesn't have access to the realms."

Taro spoke again, "unless he's working for someone again."

Vert didn't really like that idea, he's vert trusting, "why would he? He wouldn't want to hurt any of us!"

"He had a gun."

"He didn't pull it on us!"

Shirako couldn't bear it any longer, "is it just me, or does all this sound scripted."

They all stopped. It did. Whoa.

"I thought my plan sounded cheesy," Taro stated, "let's do it any way. Agreed?"

"Agreed," they all answered.

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**See? Didn't that sound cheesy? Oh well, I guess every author has their bad days.**


	12. Memories, and Lief

Kurt sat by Markie, watching IV's carry blood to his younger brother's body. He was thinking about when he first arrived to the area the car and his brother were. Markkie was in an awkward position; he was kind of half sitting up, against the car, but his body sort of twisted away. He remembered running up praying that he was alright. When he reached the car, he started to move Markie to a more comfortable position, when he woke up.

At first, Kurt was overjoyed to see him open his eyes, but it was quickly turned to dread when Markies said something seemed to burnt, and he had a sharp pain in his stomach. Like he'd been shot. Kurt had held him a minute, and Markie fell asleep. When he laid him down, he discovered that Markie had been shot, it wasn't too bad, but bad enough.

When the other drivers arrived he hat to fight his emotions, so he could get their help, with out them knowing who he was. He had. Now Markie was getting medical attention Lani couldn't give. She was good an' all, but, this was too serious for her.

"You should get some rest," the voice startled him, he turned to face Jin.

"I know, but I don't want to leave."

"He's in good hands. You can go to your condo. We'll call you if something changes."

"I wouldn't be able to sleep."

"Than go home. Get some work done. I'll stay."

He hesitated a moment, "Thanks."

"No problem."

He got up and headed for the garage. When he got home, he headed for the stable. Spirit was in his stall, munching oats.

"Hey buddy. Want to go out soon? You will, I promise," the horse just continued eating, stopping long enough to watch Kurt get in and sit down.

After a few more bites, it walked over to investigate it's owner. He recognized that smell from somewhere, before the day this stranger first walked up to his stall, giving him a name.

Kurt lifted his arm and scratched the horses head. After a couple of minutes, he got up and took the horses halter and lead rope. Spirit knew what that meant. He quickly walked over, and nudged the man, urging for him to put it on. As soon as it was he headed for the door. Kurt had to smile at the horses eagerness to go outside. They did, but headed for the one acre pasture they used for training horses.

The horse didn't mind, grass! Room to play! Kurt let the horse go and went back to the stable. He soon came out with a bucket, and a small box. He entered the pasture and whistled for the horse. Spirit paused a moment, looked back and continued to eat. He whistled again, this time shacking the bucket. Oats! The horse came trotting back, received a handful of oats, and was sent back. The whistle came again. Kurt was still holding the bucket, and the horse saw that, so it came trotting back. Kurt gave it a smaller portion of oats, and a sugar cube, which came from the box. Spirit was sent back. Whistle, hooves, sugar cube, sent back. This happened one more time, than Kurt let the horse out in the main pasture with the horses.

Kurt entered the house, and was hit with a wave of memories. Markie eating breakfast, and annoying both him and Jo. Markie begging Mrs. Murray, the cook, for one more cookie. The door opening, and a teenager Markie coming in dusty, and bruised, form being thrown by a horse a couple of times. Teaching Markie how to drive. Pillow fights. All good memories.

He walked to the window and looked out. The bad memories came, being told that both he parent had died in a car accident. He was eighteen, and inherited the entire business, home, and fortune. Jo and Markie lived with him. Markie took it the hardest. Many nights Kurt would hear him crying in their parents old bedroom, the place of comfort for all hurts it seemed.

Only two years later, an urgent call from his little brother, telling him that men with guns were in the woods. Those men weren't hunters. When he got home, he found out that his sister had been in the woods, and Markie had to go get her. He grabbed a house, and without waiting to saddle or bridle it, he tore off for the woods. The grooms hadn't been told about what Markie saw. When Kurt got there, Jo had a gun pulled, she was shooting at something. Markie lay a yard away with two bullet wounds, he was in between Jo, and what she was shooting at. Kurt got off and grabbed Markie, keeping the horse in front of him as a shield, he grabbed Jo and darted behind some trees. Before he could check Markie's injuries, seven armed men came out of the bushes. Kurt had stood up to start firing, he brought down two, and got hit by three bullets. Jo stood up and fired, bringing down two more men. Kurt shot down two more. He shot the last one, but just as he pulled the trigger, his adversary pulled his. Jo was shot in the head at the same time the last guy was. Kurt was passing out when he watch her fall. He woke up five days later, and was told that Markie would be fine. Jo was dead.

Something cold and wet touched his hand. He looked down to see Jack, the big black dog. He looked up and whined at his master, sensing the sorrow that Kurt was remembering. Kurt crouched down to scratch the dog's head and neck.

"Well Jack, Markie's in that room an hour away, and just hanging on. And I've been sent away. Now what do you think of that?" The dog just licked his face in answer.

Kurt headed up stairs, and was passing the music room, when he heard the piano. He stopped and looked in. A young girl was playing. She had black hair, and a dark complexion. She looked up, saw Kurt, and hurriedly stood up from the piano.

"I-I'm sorry. I saw the piano, and I wanted to play. I-" she said with a strong Mexican accent.

"Don't worry about it. Are you Bianca? Ramón's sister?" Kurt interrupted.

"Yes. I saw you with the big black horse. Is he yours?"

"Yeah."

"He's very beautiful."

"Sure is. Best horse I've ever seen. Do you like horses?"

"Yes, very much."

"Has Ramón let you pick out your own horse yet?"

"No. I have not asked."

"Come on, I'll help you," immediately the girls face brightened as she followed him outside.

"Do you have a particular horse you want to ride?" Kurt asked.

"A brown horse with black hair, I believe they call the color bay? I think her name is Lief."

"Lief? She's a good mare. Five years old, I think. I'll call her." With that he gave a long whistle that rose and fell five times. Presently a bay colored mare came over a small hill, and ran toward them. She halted a yard away.

"Hey Jake!" Kurt called to a big African-American who was not far away. Jake had worked there for thirty years. His father worked there before him, and he would help, starting at age ten.

"You need something?"

"Does Lief have tack?"

"She does, I'll get it. She gonna be yours Bianca?"

Bianca looked at Kurt, who nodded, "yes," a big grin plastered on her face.

Jake returned a few minutes later, carrying a saddle, a saddle blanket, and a bridle. Ramón came out too. He asked what was going on, and was told. He immediately volunteered to teach her to ride.

At that moment Andrea came out calling for Kurt, "Jin's on the phone for you."

Kurt's face paled slightly, his smile disappearing.

"Hello?"

"_Kurt? We need you to come over."_

"Why? Is Markie getting worse?" The fear was coming out a little in his voice.

"_No, he's waking up."_

Kurt sighed loudly, "don't scare me like that. I'll be right over."

Two minutes later, he was in his car headed downtown, and saying a million prayers of thanks to God.

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**I put more info about Drifters on my profile. **


	13. Music Soothes my Heart

**Okay, gotta make note of the title. Music soothes my heart, is something my little brother says, sometimes. When he says it, he kind of says it in a musical, deeper, tone of voice. Rising at the u in music, and oo in soothes, and ear in heart. It's absoloutly hilarious, and i wish so bad there was some way i could put it on here so you all could enjoy it. So, that's just a little backround, read on!**

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It had been four days since they first conceived the plan. The driver hadn't shown up in the realms. Those four days hadn't been that uneventful though.

The Drones were back. They were pretty sure the Silencerz were too, but that wasn't half as bad as the Drones. They were smarter and better than ever. Gelorum was dead (if robots can die), and everyone had been told about Kadeem, being a cyborg, and dying. So, where'd they come from?

Porkchop was bending over the engine of his car. Everything seemed fine. He shut the hood, and picked up a sledgehammer. Just as he was about to take the first swing, (I still don't know why on earth anyone, in their right mind, would beat up their car like that) music blasted throughout the garage. The kind of music a nineteen-year-old Asian Teku driver with a healing broken leg might listen to.

Sure enough, on the Teku side, Shirako was working on his new car, while music was blaring from the speakers, of not just Bassline (what, is this the fifth time he's built it"?!),

but every Teku car in the place. Bert had helped too, in fact, he was just about to turn up the volume in Nolo's car, when he saw an angry Porkchop, come charging toward him.

"Turn down your stupid music Teku scum!!!" At least, that's what Vert thought he heard. He couldn't really tell.

The alarm suddenly went off. This time, they could hear it. Dr.Tezla had wisely installed a new, louder one. Just in case the music was that loud.

Five minutes later, the drivers (all of them) were being told what the skill for the Soundtrack Realm.

Nolo was the first to ask, "what's the Soundtrack Realm? That's a weird name."

He got his answer soon enough. They entered the opening scene for "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory." The music came from all around them, as they followed the track, (no pun intended) which did exactly what the camera did.

Next, they were in scenes from "Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." The music started out, a bit swaggerish. Slow, swaying it seemed. Like Jack. A bit drunk, almost. First they were on a ship, on the high seas. Captain Jack was giving orders. Next, they were on an island, with lush green trees. Captain Jack (he won't let me say just Jack) was fighting two other men. There was Davey Jones talking. Almost every scene with Jack-excuse me, _Captain_ Jack- was in it. Pretty soon they realized that this realm was specially designed to take the driver at least an hour.

Next came "Lord of The Rings." They were dodging (as much as you can dodge in a car) to and fro, trying not to get hit by an orc, or trampled by a stray horse, or Oliphant. ARROWS!!! Oh! I wish I was there!

"This is insane!" Vert shouted, "how are we supposed to survive?!"

"Driving," Taro responded with the ever so obvious statement. Which of course was true.

"Nacho Libre?!" That was next, with the 'I am, I am,' song playing in the backround.

"This is gross," Karma, I think, was losing her 'nothing can bother me' attitude for driving, in this realm anyway.

"This is weird," Tork was in between enjoying this realm, and not enjoying it.

Shirako really didn't like this music, so he turned his up. Unfortunately, when he did that, the Realm's music also did that, so he turned it back down. To his dismay, however, the Realm's music stayed the same.

"Drones!" Monkey, didn't like this realm on bit, and with Drones, it was worse.

Next came…CARS!!! They found themselves on a huge ovalish track. Three giant cars with eyes and mouths were behind them. A green car pulled up beside a red one, they both had stickers, but the green car was insane.

"Hey McQueen, were've you been?"

"They talk," Porkchop looked up amazed. They all did. After going around a little, and after seeing a rusted (extremely rusted) tow truck, an old '50s car, a big fire truck, a green van car thing from the '60s, an army jeep, and two Italian cars, they went to another movie.

Actually it was a T.V. show. MacGyver. Here they saw some guy from the '80s. He had stark white tennis shoes, a brown leather jack that kind of puffed out, and he had a mullet. As they watched him make a bomb out of bubblegum (I don't think MacGyver's actually done that, but he probably could) the Drones came back into view.

"Hey Taro," Vert said, "doesn't that lead car remind you of Kadeems?"

Taro looked over, "yeah, it does. Can't be him though. They said he was dead."

Before Vert could reply, a Drone rammed him. He was being pushed to the edge. No one could do anything though, the Drones had sneaked up on them all.

Mullet man (a.k.a MacGyver) noticed, he looked around. Before the them music ended, he had made a special broom out of Lincoln logs, duct tape, a broken down computer system, and…fertilizer (?) that was programmed to take care of the Drones only. It worked!

Next they were transported to…Thunderbirds! Yes! Original puppets and flying machines and all! Oh no! Virgil's crashing!

"Scott! I can't bring her up! Help me!" He desperately called to his older brother.

"F.A.B. Virgil. I'm coming over," came the answer.

"This is starting to freak me out!" Monkey half yelled, half said.

"I see the portal!" Karma sounded a little panicked herself.

"That has never looked so good in my entire life!" Nolo, was immensely relieved. I think everyone was.

YES! They survived! They made it! They're home! Monkey actually jumped out of his car and kissed the floor.

"That was the strangest thing I've ever seen in my entire life," Vert was more than happy to be back. And he was happy to be the first one through.

"What's wrong with him?" Porkchop asked, jerking a thumb toward Shirako. They all looked.

Shirako just sat there in a daze. Everyone seemed to be weirded out by it, but Shirako was, in shock. He just sat there, staring off into space.

"Hey man, you alright?" Nolo asked. Usually Shirako was the least affected by a realm, "maybe you should get out of the car."

Shirako obeyed. Karma sighed, walked over, and turned on his music full blast. That got him. He realized what happened, and immediately have Karma a huge hug. Than he gave Bassline a hug. It wasn't huge because he couldn't wrap his arms all the way around it. He than took his headphones, and walked to his room. Leaving everybody freaked out.

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**Ummm….Sorry about the craziness. I was listening to my Charlie and the Chocolate Factory soundtrack while writing, and was sort of inspired. I thought it was hilarious when I was writing, but I was also a little hyper. So, sorry.**


	14. A Drifter's Word

Kurt walked into the room, and immediately walked towards his brother. Jin stood up and left.

"Hey Kurt," Markie said, smiling weakly.

"Hey buddy. How ya feeling?"

"Tired. And sore. My head hurts. My cuts burn. But I'm glad to be home. Even if I am in a hospital bed."

"Missed home that much?"

"Yeah. Especially when they asked me questions about you."

"Why? Did you say something?"

"I let it slip that I knew what the Blind Realm was going to be like. Sorry." When he said this, his eyes lowered.

"Don't worry bro. Anyone could've mad that mistake."

"I know, but they were hounding me. Everywhere I went, I felt like they were right behind me, ready to pounce if I did something. Taro thinks you were spying again. That's his reason for you leaving anyway."

"Let him think that than. Maybe it'll keep them from finding out what I was really doing." Kurt said it in a light hearted way, but there was a glint of guilt and shame in his eyes.

"You really hated that mission didn't you?" Markie was given some of the details, before Kurt left.

Kurt let out a heavy sigh, "Every bit of it. Hardest mission I've ever been assigned. Especially with that stupid deal. I should've said no in the first place."

"But, didn't they say that you were the only one qualified, without having to do extra training?" to be quite honest, Markie hated seeing Kurt beat himself up about it. Kurt hadn't told him all about that part. Something had gone on behind that. Kurt never would've made that decision by himself.

Kurt looked at his brother, he looked really tired. "Get some sleep. You need it."

Markie knew this was a sign that the conversation was over. He nodded, he really did need it. He was dropping off when Kurt left.

Kurt walked out of the room, and headed for his office. He wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings, so it surprised him when he opened the door and saw Major Wheeler standing there. It also struck him how his son looked so much like him.

"Major Wheeler. What brings you here?"

"I've noticed that you've been going into the realms."

Yes sir, I have. Is there a problem with that?"

"No, just wanted to make sure you weren't giving your identity away. I know you brought your brother here, and I understand that. But that may have raised suspicion in your former teammate's minds."

"I know that sir. I've been extremely careful."

"Good. Continue to do that. Also, Pentagon isn't sure they want the Silencerz involved in this for a while. They're also not sure what to do with my son." This last sentence was said slightly quieter. "Because he escaped, and is still racing in the realms, he's not only put himself, but the other drivers, and possibly the whole country at risk."

"What do you mean by that?" Kurt asked, sitting down in a chair, and beckoning the Major to do the same.

"Doc told me that your brother had been shot."

Kurt nodded.

"As I'm sure you've also figured out, there is now a fourth group in the realms."

Again, Kurt nodded.

"This could mean, that either it's another group that wants the Wheel, or, someone's joined the Drones. So far, we're convinced that it's the latter. And if they've somehow found out about Josef's absence from Tezla's group, and than somehow learned about his stay with us, and than his escape, they might think that he knows something." The Major's voice became husky. "They need to get the group in a safe house, or something! But we're not yet sure of the way we're going to do it."

"So, what you need me to do is, while ya'll come up with a plan, I make sure nothing happens in the realms." Kurt said, than added, "I can do that."

Major Wheeler leaned forward, and whispered fiercely, a look of fear in his eyes, "Protect him please! If the Drones, or that new group get to him," he paused, trying to get a hold of his emotions, "I couldn't stand losing him. Guard him with your life."

"Sir, I'm a Drifter. No matter who the person is, if they're put under my charge, I would die for them if I had to. Every time the realms open, I'll be there. You have my word."

His superior stared at him for a moment before saying, "You better be. If anything happens to him, I'll hold you responsible. I'll be there as often as I can, if we're not completely withdrawn."

"With the Drones there, I doubt you will." They shook hands, and the Major left.

Kurt called home.

"_Wylde residence." _Andrea answered.

"Andrea, it's me. I need you to tell me the second a realm opens by itself. Understood?"

"_No problem. How's Markie?"_

"He'll be fine thank goodness. I've never been so relieved in my entire life."

"_Except for when the Drones had him?"_

"This comes pretty close."

"_As long as he's okay."_

"See ya."

"_Bye."_

When they hung up, Kurt sat down and began studying the Drones. He'd gathered a lot of information on them for the past eight years. If he was going to do his job well, he needed, now more than ever, to know all about his enemies. And he would do his job well. Vert's life depended on it.


	15. Bob Lends a Hand

Vert glanced once more at his rear view mirror; the Drone was gaining on him. It had been two realms after the Soundtrack realm before Shirako went back in, and now Vert could see his Asian friend trying to keep up with him and the two Drones behind him. He entered a tunnel. Now he was looking all around nervously. In the last realm, a bullet his Karma's window, just barely missing her, there was some kind of sniper in the realms. He exited, coming out into snowy clear air.

This was the Mountain Realm. They had started at its base, with its grass and trees. They went higher, the ground around them becoming rockier; they also saw goats of some kind. Every once in a while they entered a tunnel, or cave, that ran through the mountain.

All of the sudden, there was some rumbling. Vert looked up to see a huge white cloud rushing toward him. What was that?

"Avalanche!" That one excited answer to his unsaid question came from Taro. Vert was screeching to a halt, when something bumped him from behind. Expecting to find a Drone, Vert looked back, and was surprised to see The Black Car. They named both car and driver, the driver being named Bob.

"TBC!" Vert exclaimed. The car pulled in front of Vert, and started pulling him along. Vert's first thought was wondering how on earth he was doing that. He than noticed how the rumbling got louder, he looked up, and saw that he was directly beneath the cascading snow.

'TBC' went faster, and so did Vert. Soon they were safely past the avalanche.

Vert stopped and got out. So did 'Bob'.

"Get back in your car," The driver ordered.

"Why?" Vert asked. If teenagers have rebellious hormones, than his would be kicking in.

"Just do it." Came a calm yet authoritive response.

Vert was just about to say something really rebellious, when something hit the side of his head, throwing him to the ground.

Bob immediately pulled some kind of rifle out of the car, and aimed up to the mountain. He must've located the gunman, because he fired and walked over to where Vert was lying.

The blonde was moaning in pain. Blood streaked down the left side of his head. He couldn't seem to hear anything except the throbbing in his head. Something warm touched his head, and turned it. Opening his eyes, he found the driver kneeling beside him, looking at the wound.

"That sniper was an amateur. Or has bad luck. He would've killed you if he was better. This isn't too bad of a wound. Just a graze, but a deep one." He got up and walked over to TBC, and grabbed some kind of bag.

He sat down again by Vert, and started applying a gauze. When he was done, he helped Vert sit back up.

"How're you feeling?" He asked.

"A little dizzy. I think I can drive though."

"Good." Just than, the sound of engines reached their ears. The other drivers came over the tightly packed snow, and were a little shocked to see Vert sitting up against his car, with his head bandaged, while the mysterious driver stood beside him.

"Vert, are you okay?" Nolo was the first to get out.

"Fine. Just a little dizzy," came the weary answer.

The driver, who was walking toward his car, quickly turned around, at the sound of the weak voice, "Are you sure you can drive?"

Vert had a slight look of annoyance, when he answered, "Yes, I can drive."

The driver nodded slightly.

Taro quickly walked over, to get in between the driver, and his car. He was in the process of getting between him and the car, which he was about to touch, when he felt himself being thrown to the ground. He looked up surprised at the driver, who was crossing his arms, and looking down.

"Don't touch my car." Was the simple statement Bob said. "What do you want."

Tork spoke up, "Who are you?"

Bob looked at him sharply, "Why? If you're wondering, I'm not working for the Drones, or the Silencerz."

"How do you know Lani?" Karma asked.

"I've known her for a while."

Nolo decided to say something, "How's Wylde?"

A beeping noise came from TBC, Bob walked over, did something, and looked back.

"He'll be fine." He turned, grabbed something from his car, and started up the mountain. As he left, the car burst into flames. End of conversation.

Both teams decided to go ahead and leave. Five minutes later, they were in sight of the portal, which was on the top of the mountain. Suddenly, The Black Car whizzed pass, slightly clipping Nolo's car, which, for a second, was covered in something that looked like electricity. But his car ran fine.

"Nolo, what happened to your car?" Lani asked.

"I don't know. It seems fine though."

Everything seemed fine. Until he went through the portal. He landed in a big dark room. Doors at the far end were just closing. Nolo got out. This was definitely not the Acceledrome. Taking off his helmet, he walked toward the black car that stood in the middle of the room. There were others, but this was the best by far. And, it was the drivers.

He reached out to touch it, not noticing the red it was getting at the bottom. Red like hot metal. He touched it. But instead of feeling the cool, smooth metal, he felt a burning, tingling sensation run up his arm, and he blacked out.


	16. One way not to welcome a guest

Kurt walked into the elevator, and pressed the button. A noise made him look up. Not that it really mattered, the doors were closed. But, he thought he heard a yell. _Eh, probably nothing._

Soon he exited and walked into a hallway. He stopped, and sniffed. A look of recognition came over his face. He made a connection. It's Wednesday. Cookie day. Best day of the week.

He walked into the kitchen, and sure enough, a brown haired woman, who looked to be about forty-seven, was surrounded by those delicious round things, that, if their fresh, melt in your mouth. Yes, cookies. Looking around, there they were. Light brown, filled with sugar. Different kinds, chocolate chip, raisin, oatmeal, white chocolate chip, chocolate chip oatmeal, chocolate, oh! The list was endless.

The woman turned around, "Hello Kurt."

Breathing in this heavenly aroma, he answered, "Hey Mrs. Murray."

Now, Mrs. Murray wasn't married. Never has been. But, when Kurt was five, he couldn't just say Miss, it was always Mrs. After all, aren't all adult woman married? Well, as a five-year-old, that's how it all seemed. So, Jo and Markie also lovingly called her that. And, once you've started, it's kind of hard to stop.

"I take it you've come in for a cookie."

"Nose came in. I just followed."

"Of course. When's your brother coming home?"

"I have to ask Doc."

"Why don't you call him right now."

"Right now, as in, after a cookie?"

"Right now, as in, right now. They'll still be here when you're done."

With a sigh he went off to call. He may be twenty-five, but fresh cookies, are…amazing. Plus, he's always had a weakness for Mrs. Murray' cooking.

Picking up the phone, he quickly dialed some numbers. Ringing was heard.

"_Nelson."_ A clipped, authoritive voice answered.

"Doc? It's Kurt. When will Markie be out?"

"_These Realm wounds heal quickly; at the most, I'd say two weeks."_

"Two weeks? That would be awfully soon."

"_I know, he'll probably be weak for a while, but other than that, he'll be fine."_

"Wow. Thanks Doc. How's he doing now?"

"_He's asleep. Can't let ya talk to him. I hate disturbing people's beauty sleep."_

"He'd hate to hear you call it that. See ya."

"_Bye."_

Kurt went to the kitchen, grabbed two cookies, and headed outside. Once there, he whistled. A black horse came thundering to him. However, when it checked Kurt's pockets, he discovered that there were no oats, or sugar cubes.

With a disgusted snort, Spirit walked away. Kurt grabbed him before he could get too far.

"Wait a minute big guy. You'll get something for coming. Than, we'll see how you like a bridle." Leading the horse to the stables, Kurt caught a glimpse of Ramón teaching Bianca how to ride. She was doing well.

After giving him an oatmeal cookie, Kurt put Spirit in his stall, and went to find a good bridle for him. He came back, and held the bridle for the horse to investigate. After a lot of sniffing and snorting, the horse concluded that this was nothing more than a mere pile of extremely dark rope. In other words, it had nothing to fear.

Seeing that the horse wasn't bothered, Kurt started to put it on. Spirit jerked his head back, and tried to bite it. Kurt just chuckled and stroked the horse's neck, calming him down.

"Katie!" he called to a young red-headed girl.

"Yes sir?" 

"Help me get this bridle on him, will ya?"

"Sure."

After two more tries they finally got it on him. At first, the horse seemed to be uncomfortable. But, with both Kurt and Katie speaking soothingly to him, he got used to it.

Kurt led the horse around for a few minutes. After the horse got used to being led by the bridle, Kurt took it off, and gave the horse a carrot. Than he sent him off into the field.

Kurt headed to the house. Upon entering, he went up to his office. He sat down, and was in the process of checking his email, when he noticed that the desk was hot. Sun wasn't shining on it. Oh yeah! It's hot whenever someone touched his car. Duh.

Sure enough, after checking with the computer, someone unidentifiable had touched his car. He headed to the garage. When he entered, he turned on the lights. Nothing seemed wrong. Until he noticed the car. Nolo Pisaro's car to be exact.

He walked over, beside his car, was lying Nolo. Kurt quickly bent down and checked for a pulse. Good, there was one. It was weak, but there.

Opening the car door, a grabbed a bottle of water, (yes, he has "refreshments" in his car.) he began to revive the Mexican. After several minutes, the eighteen-year-old woke moved, and slowly blinked his eyes. When he saw Kurt, he immediately tried to get up.

"Hey, calm down. Take a drink." Kurt restrained him.

After several deep drinks, Nolo asked, "Kurt, what are you doing here? Where am I? Why'd you quit? You're the driver?"

Kurt just smiled, "Yeah, I'm the driver. I live here, I quit because of some business I hat to attend to, and you're in my garage. Though you should go to bed." He helped Nolo stand, who swayed a bit, and leaned on Kurt for support.

By the time they got to an elevator, Nolo had to sit down. So he did, but he had a few question to ask, "Did you clip me on purpose?"

"No, it was an accident. Did you touch my car?"

"Yeah, is that why you threw Taro to the ground?"

"Yup. That was fun too." Nolo kind of laughed. By than the elevator had stopped. Kurt helped Nolo up again.

They found themselves in a hallway; Kurt took him to a door not far away. Opening it, Nolo saw a huge bedroom. It was nice too, but all Nolo really paid attention to was the bed. Within minutes he was asleep.

Kurt left the room and called Doc.

"He's not awake yet."

"That's not why I called Doc. One of the drivers accidentally came here, and touched my car."

"Ouch. I'll be over as soon as possible. How's he feeling?"

"Woozy. He's asleep now. But, I probably should've taken him to a hospital."

"Hmm. Okay. See you really soon than."

"Thanks Doc." Kurt hung up. Now he needed to tell Mrs. Murray, and Andrea. They had to know of the unexpected guest.


	17. A new, not so cheesy plan

As soon as everyone had gotten through the portal, they all realized that Nolo wasn't there. Karma raced up to the computer room.

"Let me see the footage from his on-board camera!"

"Here," Lani moved out of the way.

Everything started out normal. The only interesting thing was when he was clipped by TBC. You could see the electricity going over the camera. Than he went through the portal. They could see a huge dark room for a few seconds. Than the image went fuzzy.

"That was the driver's car." Both women whirled to see Taro standing in the doorway.

"But the car just clipped him. How could he have gone there?" Karma asked.

"I remember, when it happened, something came up on his car's readings. Like a code or something." Lani said.

Before they could discuss it further, Tork came in.

"Vert doesn't look too good. You better check him Lani."

Lani nodded in reply, and went. Upon arriving in the garage area, she saw Vert sitting on the ground, leaning against his car.

"Vert, what happened?" She hadn't been told about the sniper yet.

"Bob said it was a sniper. He grazed me." Bob knows all in the Realms.

She leaned over to take a look. The bandage Bob had put there was soaked in blood.

"Come on. I'll take care of this in the infirmary." She helped Vert up, and they slowly made their way to the room.

Thirty minutes later, Vert was lying down. Lani was paged to the conference room. Dr. Tezla had called a meeting.

When she got there, he began.

"After checking the computer, I have concluded that when the driver's car touched Nolo's car, he some how switched the car's computer system to respond to a different portal. Meaning, the driver can send a message to a car, telling it to another portal. And, I believe that's what happened to Nolo."

"I'm guessing that means, if we touch the car, we go to his place?" Monkey asked. He's so good at repeating things differently.

"Yes. Obviously that car is capable of doing many other things, but it will be very hard to find out what."

"Can't we just surround it, and take it here? Like what the Drones did to Taro in the Water Realm." Tork inquired.

"We don't know. If it had that powerful of an affect on one car, it could probably do it to a group," Dr. Tezla replied.

"How powerful was it? You haven't told us." Karma said.

"Within two seconds of touching, Nolo's car was programmed to go through a different portal."

They were all silent for a moment. Than Porkchop spoke up, "What if two or three of us surround him right before he went through? And if we did get transported back to his place, we could use EDR."

Dr.Tezla looked skeptical, "How would you keep up? He's already shown how fast he is."

Taro answered, "He seems to want to stay close to us. Every time an accident happens, he's right there. If something happened right at the end, and would probably see him, than we could surround him."

Lani didn't like the sound of that, "Are you sayi8ng, that someone should just, volunteer to crash?! That's insane!"

"That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying, someone should make it _look_ like that's about to happen. I could do it." Taro looked back, and responded calmly. He reminds me of a cat.

Tork broke in, "How do you know he hasn't been watching us since before the Blind Realm? He would know that when you crash, it's not because of a stupid mistake on your part."

"If he's been watching for that long, why hasn't he stepped in to help everyone else, when they've had problems.?"

Tork was about to answer, when a strange look came over his face. A look that said, _I've been enlightened!_ "Doesn't it seem strange that he didn't appear, until only a few weeks after Kurt left?"

"You don't think," Lani began.

"No," Karma said, "How would he get in?"

"Well," Tork began, "It would explain why he was so concerned about Wylde."

Silence dominated the room.

Dr.Tezla broke the silence (and got them back on track), "I think that with EDR it should be safe enough. It worked at the Drone's headquarters, obviously, it should work there. Just make sure it's working in all cars. This last sentence was directed to Lani.

Five hours later, cars had been checked on, Vert woke up, and was told the plan, and everyone was bout to have dinner, when, you guessed it, the alarm went off.


	18. When helping hurts

Kurt was showing Doc where Nolo was when Jack rushed up, barking and herding him to the nearest elevator. Kurt waved to Doc, telling him to go ahead. He pressed a button, and was on his way to the garage.

Getting out, he ran to his car. The portal up ahead was newly opened, the silver ball was swirling. Jack hopped in before he could be stopped.

While entering, Kurt punched in a code, and the car swiftly adjusted to it's surroundings, making it seem invisible. Than his cell-phone rang. Yes, he gets service in the Realms. The crystals allow you to open any realm, if they're in your computer. When you melt them all together, you can put them in a small metal holder, slip that in your phone, and voila! Service!

"Wylde," he answered.

"_Kurt, this is Jack. Listen, Pentagon just came through; the Silencerz will be coming in for the pick up. Right now all we need you to do, is make sure no one else gets to the drivers first. We don't know when exactly we'll be going in. If something goes wrong in the Realms, before we go in, you need to get Josef out of there. Understood?"_

"Yes sir."

"_Good." _With that, the Major hung up.

Kurt suddenly became aware of his surroundings. Already he was almost halfway done with the Realm. The Stone Realm.

For miles around, stone terrain stretched. Huge gray walls stood up at odd intervals. Stone towers reached high, threatening to fall on the track, which also seemed to be made mostly of stone. Boulders of immense size would often seem to come out of nowhere.

That wasn't the half of it though. The drivers were behind him, and according to his radar, so were some Drones. To make matters worse, the Drones had sweepers with them. Typical. They disappear for a couple of Realms, than come back more powerful.

He turned back. So far, the drivers seemed to be doing well. It looked like they had already gotten rid of some Drones. Beside him, Jack eagerly wagged his tail.

Taking a closer look at the sweepers, however, told Kurt that these mammoth vehicles had been improved. They were flexible. Yes, flexible. They seemed to be plated, allowing them to bend, giving them more driving freedom. Plated as in armadillo.

One was just about to close in on Monkey. Kurt pressed a few buttons, a picture popped up on his computer screen. He looked at a few others, chose one, and made the car "visible." But, instead of just a plain black car, it looked like it was a Drone.

It was under this guise that he was able to get right next to the sweeper. Right when it seemed that Monkey wouldn't make it, Kurt's car turned all black, and slammed into the side of the sweeper.

Kurt could see the looks of amazement on the other driver's faces through their windows, as he pushed the huge vehicle over the edge. He patched into the other team's communication system in time to hear Monkey yell his thanks. This was his custom, to listen to conversations between the teams throughout the race.

If you don't count fighting off Drones, dodging enormous boulder, trying not to touch the other cars, and driving as fast as possible at the same time, not very exciting, than the Realm was pretty uneventful. Until they got to the end.

Kurt was dropping back, to make sure everybody got through, when the biggest sweeper he had ever seen went past. All the other sweepers were big, but this was the size of a jet! Well, not quite that big, but it looked like it.

After getting over his initial shock of letting something that big and clumsy go past him, Kurt noticed that it was going toward Vert. Of course. _You know,_ he thought,_ this sure does seem like someone's writing an almost overly dramatic story. _Doesn't though?

Pressing down even harder on the accelerator, he soon caught up. He was estimating the power it would take to force this thing off the road, when it suddenly pushed against him. Before he had time to recover, another Drone rammed into him. Pretty soon, he was trying to fight off two Drones, and a sweeper. Jack started barking loudly, as if to scare the robots.

_This must be what a soccorball feels like._ He thought he heard the other drivers trying to help him, but his head started spinning. After an especially nasty shove from the sweeper, he cracked his head against the window.

After that, he had a vague feeling that something was pushing against his car. Actually, it seemed to him, that he was being sandwiched between two cars, and being "pushed" to the portal. He must've hit something while being tossed around, because nothing happened when the two cars touched him. Drones followed along, unnoticed.

Before he knew it, they were landing in the Acceledrome. His head still spinning, Kurt realized that the other drivers were getting out of their cars, and coming towards him. Quickly, he looked around, grabbed his helmet, and got out, looking casual as possible; for someone with a pounding head.


	19. Bob, Drones, and Jack

After seeing the beating TBC got, both Teku and Metal Maniacs were surprised to see that the car looked like it was just driven out of the show room. Even more surprising, the driver came out, and leaned against his car as if nothing happened. Behind him, the portal closed.

Lani ran up, "Are you okay?" She saw what happened, via, on board cameras.

"Fine." The drivers answer, seemingly, bored.

"That was you wasn't it?" Tork had a hard time believing the car survived that.

"Yup." Once again, his voice betraying no sign of being tossed around like the ball in monkey in the middle.

"There's blood on your neck," Taro pointed out. The driver put a hand to the spot, and looked at it.

"So?" This conversation was beginning to have an abundance of awkward pauses.

"Um, do you want me to look at it?" Lani asked timidly.

"Nope." Raise your hand if you knew he was going to say that.

Vert could keep it in no longer, "Where's Nolo?"

"Nolo? Your Hispanic friend? Sleeping I hope."

"Sleeping? Why, what did you do to him?" Karma looked a little worried.

"_I_ did nothing. He touched my car." Was it just their imagination, or did he sound a little out of breath?

Taro looked unimpressed (People with no emotion are depressing! And extremely boring to hang out with!), "What does touching your car have to do with anything."

Bob seemed equally calm, "Nothing if you're allowed."

"Why don't you tell us who you are, since you'll be here for a while?" Dr. Tezla walked up. The driver looked at him.

"I don't see why. Because I'll be leaving as soon as my path is cleared."

"Leaving," Monkey broke in. "You can't leave until the portal's open."

"You're quite right," the driver looked directly at him. "That's why I'll be opening it."

Monkey didn't bother countering him, he couldn't see Bob's eyes, but he could feel them.

"You can't open it." Dr. Tezla stated.

Bob didn't say anything this time. Instead, he simply opened his car, and typed something down into his computer. Suddenly a loud crash sounded out from the other side of the huge garage. Before anyone went off to investigate, they all noticed that the wheel was moving. The portal started to form. They also noticed that the alarm didn't sound.

Instead of driving off immediately, Bob grabbed a gun, and headed toward the place the sound was heard.

Something green and black leaped out of nowhere, and gunshots rang out. Bob was shooting at some Drones.

"How'd they get in here?" Vert shouted.

They all watched as they got closer. Bob pulled out a knife, and started cutting at the Drones exposed wires.

A Drone got past the knife and hit him on the side of the head. Before the other drivers could react, a Drone somehow managed to pull the helmet off. Taro was almost certain he recognize the driver.

However, before any one got a good look, the helmet was back on, and two Drones were "dead." Open mouthed, the two teams watched in amazement as Bob deftly cut, kicked, and basically destroyed the mechanical monsters.

It was strange, and fascinating, watching the driver take out one Drone after another, with a combination of martial arts, of all kinds, and good ol' military combat fighting. It was almost like a dance. Fluid, smooth, perfect. There were two Drones making it especially hard for him.

Twisting and turning, he managed to dodge most of the swings of the robots arms. One of the Drones managed to throw him against the wall, but, immediately, Bob got up. After a few more of his graceful, dance-like, (I'm getting carried away with the art of fighting, aren't I?) and deadly moves, the Drones were finally destroyed. Indeed, the only "living" Drone, was Sparky. Whom we all love and cherish.

Lani glanced up to the timer. Fifty minutes were left for the Realm. She looked back in amazement. The driver was rummaging through all of the Drone's parts. She couldn't believe it, he and his car had taken a major beating in the Realm, he just fought off several Drones single-handedly, and got thrown against the wall, yet, here he was, calmly looking through Drones. Freaky.

After a few more minutes, all of the drivers had caught their breath, and Bob was walking toward his car. He opened the door, and turned to talk to them.

"Any idea how they got in here?" It was his turn to ask questions.

"They must've come sometime before we set up the security system" (Whoa! Security system? I want one.) "But I don't see how they would know." Dr. Tezla answered, now thoroughly scared.

"Who here knows how to handle a gun?" Came his next question.

Tork spoke up, "I do."

The driver nodded, reached inside his car, and pulled out a bag.

"It has a .45 caliber Night Hawk, with fifty clips. You'll also find a silencer in there."

Tork nodded his reply.

The driver sighed, looked back into the car and said, "You can have Jack, until you're picked up."

They all looked up questioningly. A huge black dog came out of the car. The driver crouched down and spoke a few foreign words to the dog, who in turn walked towards the two teams.

"Jack here knows how to handle the Drones. Try not to be harsh, he doesn't like it. He shows his dislike in semi-extreme ways. Since he doesn't trust you yet, that'll be worst."

"Are you sayin' we can't protect ourselves from a bunch of tin headed bucket of bolts?!" Porkchop demanded angrily.

"You're not just dealing with Drones, there are others involved. And I don't mean the Silencerz. By the way, don't shoot them." With that, he got into his car, and drove into the portal, which immediately closed after him, even though it had more than forty minutes left.

They looked toward the hologram, mystified, as if it held all the answers.


	20. 6:00 is too late to get up

After entering through the portal, Kurt realized that the Swamp Realm wasn't exactly the best on to go through if you have a head injury. Nevertheless, he couldn't change it now, he activated auto pilot.

Taking out a small device from his first aid kit, he held it up to his wound. After a few seconds, he looked at the reading, no concussion. Good.

Next, he cleaned it. Than noticed that the window had blood on it. Than he noticed the various creatures of the Realm coming toward him. Than (that's a good word) he realized his scanner didn't pick these up.

Because of all the thans I mentioned above, he decided he had to drive himself. Not exactly his favorite thing to do with a massive headache. He hated Drones. They're evil. Just to let you know.

Fire? Or ice? Both would do the job of getting rid of the creatures wonderfully. It's already unpleasantly warm in swamps, so why fire? But if ice, it would get quite cool, quite fast. Hmmmm……isn't that how tornadoes are formed? Grrr, this is annoying. This is the only problem with writing. I'll let Kurt decide.

He decided, Ice. Is nice. But not, with rice. I love rhymes!

Anyway, he typed down a few things (I'd love to go into more detail, but, stuff like that, (which I'm assuming includes computers) is not my forte.), and the car was immediately being covered in an icy hue. A mosquito tried to land, but pulled back shrieking. It was too cold for comfort.

In record time (he does almost everything in record time. Probably the strict military training. Or the first born instincts.) he made it to the portal. He landed, and headed back up stairs. And because headaches distract people so easily, he walked right into the kitchen. And luckily for him, (he wouldn't really care) Doc was still there.

"Boy! What did you do now?!" He wasn't exactly yelling, but it made Kurt wince.

"I didn't do anything. A couple of elephant carriers decided I was the new kick ball."

Nolo, obviously felling better, had been happily eating a plateful of cookies, and was sitting on the side where he couldn't see the blood, "Elephant carriers?"

"Sweepers," Andrea walked in. "Here's a list of horses that could be sent to Keeneland for their next auction," she told Kurt, without a hint of concern for his head.

"Horses?" Nolo looked up, surprised.

"Haven't you looked outside?" She hadn't even bothered introducing herself.

Nolo looked outside. Sure enough, groups of horsed could be seen across the fields, grazing, running, even fighting.

He looked back at Kurt, who was being looked at by Doc, "You raise horses?" A look of disbelief came across his face. Kurt Wylde, one of the best street racers he knew, who had once been considered one of the best racers in the world, raised horses?!!

Kurt gave him a smile, and laughed, "Yeah, race horses."

Race horses, a little more believable, but he was still confused.

"Nolo, have you ever ridden a horse?"

"No, why?"

"Ever seen someone else ride a horse that didn't want to be ridden?"

"No, why?"

Before Kurt could answer, Doc spoke up, "You better not come in tomorrow. And you should probably sleep in."

"Sleep in?!" Kurt looked incredulous, ever since he was eight, his father got him up extra early to help with the horses. Just because he was rich didn't mean he didn't have responsibility.

The only time he ever slept longer than 4:30 in the morning, was if he was sick, or needed the rest. To him, a headache was not sick.

"At least until 6:00."

"6:00?!" Kurt exclaimed.

Nolo looked Kurt like he was crazy. 6:00 to him was early, how could this guy call it sleeping in?

"6:00 Kurt." They all looked over at Mrs. Murray, who hadn't looked up through the whole thing.

"Fine," he said grudgingly.

"Well," Doc clapped his hands together, "Since we're all at an agreement, and both the lads," he said gesturing toward Kurt and Nolo, "Should be much better after a goodnights sleep, I shall leave. Goodbye!" With that, he strode outside and left.

Looking out, they noticed how dark it was.

"I'm going to bed," Kurt said none too happily.

"Do you want something to eat?" Mrs. Murray asked.

"Not hungry."

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Nolo woke up, and looked at the clock. It was 10:17 A.M. Time to get up.

He walked into the kitchen, the smell of eggs and bacon greeted him. Kurt sat at the table, talking with a huge African-American, Mrs. Murray, Andrea, and an older man with graying hair.

"If we introduce the saddle to him first, should we wait two days, before trying to ride him?"

"Son," the African-American began, "Why not try it like you usually do? With the saddle on, letting him get used to it, and than get on immediately?"

Kurt just shrugged, "I'm not sure. He's got a lot more spirit than all my other horses. Maybe I should just let him hold me. Than he can try the saddle."

The gray-haired man spoke up, "you've only tried that once before. And you ended up in a coma with a fractured skull!"

"Bill, that was twelve years ago. I can hang on better now." Andrea snorted at that.

"That could still happen to the best rider out there. Markie's already laid up in a hospital bed, we don't need you there too."

"what if I tried it in the lake?"

Bill nodded slowly, "That might work, but it'd still be dangerous. It is November after all."

"Than," Mrs. Murray broke in, "How about he build up the horse's trust for a week? Than try it. If Spirit trusted you enough," She waved a hand in Kurt's direction, "He'd probably be less likely to throw you."

Kurt looked around at each of their faces, and sighed, "Fine, a week. I need to check up on Markie."

Everyone nodded and got up to go work.

"Aha! He has awoken," Mrs. Murray said upon seeing Nolo standing in the doorway. "Finally. Come in, hope you like eggs and bacon."

Nolo walked in, Kurt was still at the table, so he sat next to him.

"What were you guys talking about?" He asked.

"Breaking in my horse. Though, now I suppose it's gentling."

"Does 'breaking in' horses usually include head injuries?" Well, it was beginning to look like raising horses wasn't so boring after all.

"Not all the time. But broken bones, cuts, bruises, and all that good stuff often come with it."

Mrs. Murray set the plate down, "You want something to Kurt?"

"I'm good, thanks."

After a few minutes of silence, Nolo asked a question that had been hanging over him like a cloud, ever since Doc had left the night before, "When can I go back?"

"You can't."

"Why not?" Nolo couldn't believe this.

"Orders. As soon as the others have come, ya'll will be sent to a safe house."

Ya'll? Did he just say ya'll? Nolo suddenly became aware that his friend had a funny accent.

Looking at his face, Kurt laughed, "I forgot, Welcome to Kentucky!" He said, letting his Kentucky drawl become more prominent.

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Markie slept on, while a strange man came into his room. If he had been awake, he would have seen the guy glancing around nervously, hiding his face somehow, when someone walked by. He also would've noticed that the man had brown hair, a dark complexion, and unfriendly hazel eyes.

Upon entering, the man looked down at the sleeping young man, and sneered. Walking up, he pulled out a needle, and injected it into the neck of the former Maniac. Feeling the prick, Markie stirred. Seeing the motion, the man hurriedly exited, leaving behind no evidence of his being there. Well, not on the surface of anything. No one would think of looking in the younger Wylde's blood until it's too late. Right?


	21. Jack and Hissing

Blackish-brown eyes stared into orange ones. Dog versus man. Jack versus Taro. Yes, I know, a strange competition. You'd think it was below Taro to have a staring contest against a dog. But, it was happening.

Here's how it began. Taro was just sitting down to eat lunch, when Jack decided that the Maniac didn't deserve to eat today, so he stole his lunch. The huge half-wolf dog downed the whole steak in five seconds flat. Taro shouted "Hey!" and glared down at the dog. The dog stared back, almost daring the man to do something.

Others walked in, seeing the strange scene before them, they snickered. Vert and Shirako took it upon themselves to time the event. Surely this hurt Taro's pride.

Earlier I said the dog seemed to be daring the man to do something. He probably would've, had he not remembered the driver throwing him down in the Mountain Realm. With that memory, and the driver saying he knew how to take care of the Drones, kept him from doing anything.

Just when Taro thought he could do this no longer, Lani walked in with the dog's "real" food. Vert and Shirako looked at their watches, and saw that the contest took thirty-seven minutes. Taro flashed the Hawaiian a grateful look. She didn't notice, though, she was too busy petting Jack.

At first, everybody was determined to ignore the dog as much as possible. Jack seemed to think the same thing. But of course, the dog and the drivers some how bonded. After two days, no less. I guess they all had a soft spot for that thing.

They quickly discovered that the dog knew cars. Sort of. Some one would call for a piece, and Jack would trot up with it. If it wasn't too big. Some one called for a tool, Jack had it. Obviously Bob worked on his car when Jack was around.

They also learned that animal's instincts weren't _just _for survival, and weather. Jack always knew when a Realm was opening. He also knew when something was wrong. It seemed like something was always wrong.

One night, Jack had started barking, for no apparent reason. After several attempts to quiet the dog down (and several wishes for a shot gun) they went to investigate. They soon found Jack standing over a, now defective, Drone. This again left them wondering how the Drones got through.

It had been nine days, and four Realms since Jack had joined them. And he had only really warmed up to Lani and Karma. He was especially protective of them. When Monkey came to flirt with Lani, Jack chased him away. If Vert was having one of those days where he felt like annoying Karma, Jack would fake and attack. Because of this, the two women fell in love with the dog. And he didn't seem to really mind all the extra attention.

After lunch, everybody headed toward the garage. There was really no that much to do, except wait. They had all worked so much on their cars, it was impossible to do much else. So they all just kinda sat around and talked. Sitting around talking can be quite boring.

"I wish that dog could talk," Tork said, staring at Jack.

"Why?" Taro asked. He knew the answer, but he said the question anyway.

"I've got to know who that driver is. And how Wylde's doing."

"Yeah." This was how most of their conversations were. When you weren't fighting with anybody anymore, things tend to get quiet, and a little boring.

Karma walked up. I doubt I need to tell you who she sat with. Love. Sigh.

"I wonder why the Realms haven't opened up lately."

"Are we done with all the Realms yet?" Monkey was standing nearby working on Sparky.

"According to Dr. Tezla, no." She replied.

"That is strange," Taro commented.

After a few more minutes of silence, Sparky stood up, "Hello."

Jack looked up. That was when they all realized that Jack had never seen Sparky, and vice versa.

Jack got up, and slowly approached the robot. Sparky of course didn't know how this might be a problem. So he good naturedly greeted the dog.

"Hello. My name is Sparky. What's yours?" Sparky was by far the best mannered Maniac ever.

Jack didn't really care about manners. There was a semi-familiar smell in the air. Part good, mostly bad. He was smelling a Drone.

By the time everyone realized that Jack thought Sparky was a 'bad' Drone, it was too late. Jack had jumped for the neck. Sparky was losing his head.

It took the combined efforts of Tork, Taro, and Karma to pull the black dog away. Monkey hurriedly picked up Sparky, and put him on a table. As soon as he did, Jack broke free. He stared at the table for quite a while, before going off to look for food.

Everyone stood there for a moment, catching their breath.

"That's some dog," Tork broke the silence.

The others could only nod their agreement.

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A few hours later, Lani found the dog lying on its side. He was in the middle of the hallway. The way it was laying, didn't look natural. She walked up to get a closer look. Jack had been with a tranquilizer.

She was about to cry for help, but before she could, someone grabbed her. She didn't have enough time to recover, when a strong, sweet, sick smelling cloth covered her face. The hallway became fuzzy, before she slipped into an inky blackness.

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Dr.Tezla was in his lab, when a strange hissing sound came through the vents. His eyelids became heavy, he became tired. He rose from his seat, intending to investigate, but he was quickly overcome by a feeling of weakness. He collapsed to the ground, just as the door opened.

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Everyone else had been in the cafeteria. They thought it a little strange that Jack wasn't in there. They thought they heard some noises, but dismissed it as their own imagination. Maybe, they reasoned, they were all restless from not going into a Realm. Maybe it was because Nolo and Wylde were still in the Driver's hands, and they didn't know how they were.

Pretty soon, a hissing sound came from the vents. They all felt as though their movements were held down by weights. They were just dropping off, when men with gas masks entered. This should've alarmed them. But in this state, they all thought it was a dream. Just, a dream…


	22. Hay Day

Kurt drove down the street on his way to the Drifter building. It had been two long weeks since that almost fateful day in the Forest Realm. He was coming to pick Markie up.

Upon arriving, he learned that Markie was almost ready, and his _very, very best friend in the whole wide world_ was up in his office. From the sarcasm in the messenger's voice, he knew exactly who his visitor was. Rebekah Anderson.

Kurt and Rebekah had both trained under Jin. At first they both tolerated each other. However, that soon turned to hatred. Nobody, including themselves, knew why they hated each other so much.

Maybe it was because they were the best, no one was better, they were as good as each other. That fact made them partners. It also might've started silent controversy of who was better, between them. Maybe it was because they were too much alike, personality wise. Maybe she was jealous that he was a Marine, for a short period of time, and he started out better, and he picked that up in her attitude. But the favorite 'maybe' among the more romantic recruits that had heard of this passionate hatred, thought that either they both loved each other and didn't want to mention it, or they had once been a "couple", and something had happened between them. When that was ever brought up, the elder Drifters snorted, choked on their food, or laughed 'till they cried.

I said they were partners. I also said they hated each other. How does their partnership work? They respect each other. They knew their job, and if they didn't work together, they wouldn't succeed. They seldom disagreed on a mission, if they were on the right trail. If they had downtime, hooboy! If they had to figure out what to do, they went through different plans, until they found one they both agreed on. They also knew, that they couldn't work with anyone else.

Kurt entered his office. A twenty-five-year-old strawberry-blonde sat on the couch.

"Wylde."

"Anderson." They never addressed each other by their first names, unless something crazy happened, and they were involuntarily screaming for each other. Which only actually happens when theirs a bomb. Or something extreme like that.

"Called the Major, or SHQ lately?"

"No. I take it something's wrong."

"The Silencerz drivers have been missing for about a week now. A new group has possession of the wheel. Oh, and before I forget, the Acceledrome has been empty for a couple of days now."

Kurt was quiet for a moment. "So they disappeared when they were going in for the rest of the drivers?"

"If you mean the Silencerz, yes. Pentagon's assigned us to check everything out." She dropped a folder onto his desk. "They've already hacked into the Acceledromes cameras. The day everyone went missing, the cameras messed up. When they came back online, there was no sign of blood, or a struggle. Food was in the cafeteria, so we don't think they cleaned up anything. The garage was all messy too."

Kurt nodded, "When do we go?"

"Within a week. I think we should go in about two days."

"Two days. Okay. We'll go through my portal."

"Good. See you than."

They shook hands (in disgust) and left. A young man watched them leave, and walked up to Kurt.

"Did I just see you guys shake hands?" his eyes were wide with amazement.

"Yeah, we've go a new assignment."

"Oh," his face fell. That was boring. "Bye."

"Bye."

In five minutes he and Markie were in the car on the way home. Glancing over, Kurt noticed how his brother looked a little pale. He shouldn't be worried, should he? After all, Markie has just been released after getting shot, and losing a lot of blood. He hasn't been outside for a few weeks. What do you expect? Still…

"How's Peregrine?" He looked at Markie. Peregrine was his brothers spirited seven-year-old chestnut stallion. Markie had named him after a Peregrine falcon.

"He's good. The grooms have been calling him Pippin."

Markie shook his head, smiling. "Nolo gotten used to the whole horse breeder thing yet?"

"Sort of. Laddy's been needing exercise, he hurt his leg, so we've given him a soccer ball to play with. At first he played alone, then Bianca started kicking it around with him, and she got Nolo to do it if she can't."

"And he's doing it?"

"Yeah, he's got nothing else to do. He wont' say anything, but he likes it."

This sort of talk continued until they got home. Markie took it all in. After two and a half years, he was seeing his home again.

As soon as Kurt had stopped, Markie was out heading for the house. Once in, he remembered why he loved this place. And why everyone else did too.

You walked in, knowing it was a mansion. You're thinking everything has to be spot clean, and in place, almost stiff. But you looked around, and immediately felt at home. It was like, when you walk into a log home, it's down to earth, warm, and welcoming. The only difference was, it wasn't a log home.

Walking into the kitchen he saw Mrs. Murray bustling about, getting dinner ready. Roast beef. With potatoes, and carrots. He could smell bread in the oven. He looked at the clock. He winced. He had to wait three hours.

"You can wait three hours, and you know it." Mrs. Murray was a psychic or something.

"But it's hard."

"Nonsense. It's never too hard if you know you're getting a good meal at the end. Isn't that what you always say?" She walked over to give him a hug.

"Whatever." He received the hug. She was the only one allowed to do it.

After that, he headed to the stables. He walked into the tack room, grabbed some sugar cubes, and headed toward the door. Before he got there, he noticed someone in front of a Dappled Lad's stall. Walking quietly, and hiding in another stall, he saw who it was.

Nolo Pisaro was putting a green halter on a dappled (hence the name) gray stallion. He was talking softly to the horse. After snapping on the lead rope, Nolo led Laddy out. Markie followed and they headed to the one-acre training pasture.

Once there, the horse and teenager began kicking a soccerball around. Markie, who was watching from the doorway, noticed Nolo smiling every time the horse kicked the ball passed him, and bobbed its head up and down, whinnying, as if to say, "Gotcha that time! Stupid human can't beat a horse."

After a few more minutes, Markie shook his head, and headed to the main fields. When he arrived, he gave a long, loud whistle, ending with, what sounded like, a bird call. Pretty soon, he heard the thundering of hooves, and a beautiful, fiery red chestnut came galloping toward him. It jumped the fence, and stopped half a foot away from Markie's face.

"Hey Per," He held a out his palm, holding the sugar cubes for the powerful animal to have.

When he was done, Markie jumped on his back, and entered the huge fenced in area. The younger Wylde sent the horse into full gallop.

Within seconds, the wind was whistling in his ears. He felt the powerful muscles at work beneath him. With each stride the horse went faster, the ground became a blur. By this time, it was going to be extremely hard to stop the horse.

They entered the wooded area. Knowing he wouldn't have time to duck branches, Markie bent down lower to the horses neck. Horse and rider became one, the thrill of driving, was forgotten. It was once more remembered where the term 'horsepower' came from.

This would've gone on much longer, but Markie made the mistake of touching Peregrine with his new arm. As soon as the horse felt the cold metal, it stumbled, surprised. Markie was thrown, and had the wind knocked out of him.

As he lay there gasping for breath, Peregrine charged, intending to free his master of the horrible shiny object covering his arm. Fortunately, Markie noticed, and rolled out of the way.

"Hey! I'd actually like to keep this thing, if you don't mind!" The horse some how got the message, and stopped.

Markie held out the arm, and let Peregrine get used to it. The horse was in the process of sniffing it, when it sneezed.

"Sick! Per, in case you didn't know, you should turn your head when you do that."

Immediately after that, the bush behind him seemed to explode with giggles. Markie walked over to investigate. Before he got there, a young girl popped out. It was obvious she had seen everything. She kept laughing, and it was so infectious, he started laughing as well.

"This stays between you and me, okay?" Markie said, once they had both calmed down somewhat.

"Okay."

"Good. What's your name anyway?"

"Bianca. Are you Markie?"

He nodded.

"I don't think that 'Markie' fit's you."

"Yeah? Try telling Kurt that?"

"Well, I've only seen you in pictures. It fits you then, but not now. Can I call you Mark?"

"Sure. Kurt says you've taught Nolo how to play soccer with a horse."

Bianca grinned, "Yes. I think he likes it. But when I first showed him, he complained."

"I think he likes it too. Mind if I call you B."

She grinned again, "You can call me that."

"Good, I don't feel like calling you Bianca all the time."

She giggled. "Ramón said it was hay day. What does he mean by that?"

This time, _he_ smiled. "Hay day is the best day of the month. Has a big truck come yet?"

She shook her head.

"Well then, we should head down there now, so we hopefully won't miss it." He turned and mounted Peregrine, and gave a short whistle. Leif trotted up to him.

"You called her? But I thought she had a different whistle."

"I didn't know which horse she was. The whistle I used is for all the horses."

"Oh," Bianca mounted, and in twenty minutes, they were back. Just in time to see a huge semi pull up.

The next hour was filled with the blissful aroma of hay. And sweaty grooms. But the latter is not a blissful aroma. Thankfully though, five tons of hay, masks the stench quite well.

Two lines were formed. Each had people tossing hay bales to the other. Once that was done, the truckers swept the excess hay, that fell from the bales, out of the truck, and onto the ground. Then the truck left.

Bianca stared at the pile of hay quizzically. Spotting her brother, she walked over to ask him a question.

"Ramón. What do we do with that pile of hay?"

"That, is the initiation pile." He answered solemnly.

Bianca glanced at the hay, then looked back at her brother, "Our you okay?"

He sighed, "You must go through the initiation."

She looked doubtful, "Did you hit your head?"

"You shall be the first to undergo this process today."

"Mo, you're starting to scare me. Do you want me to got get help-" Quite suddenly, he picked her up, and carried her, while running, to the pile. Shrieking, she was tossed into the pile. A cheer came from the crowd of onlookers.

Bianca came up sputtering, "LO QUE HIZO USTED HACE ESTO PARA?!!" she screamed at her grinning brother.

"You are now officially part of," he paused a moment, not sure how it was put, " uh, us!"

By this time, she was out, and before she could say anything else, two more grooms, much to their dismay, were tossed into the pile.

Nolo walked out of the stable, just in time to see this happen. Without warning a metal arm was thrown around his shoulders.

"So, you play soccer with a horse. Have you ridden yet?"

"Wylde! Man, you're okay!"

"I'm taking that as a no. Have you been officially welcomed yet?" now, they were in the front of the crowd.

"What?"

Before he knew what was happening, Markie, Kurt, and Jake had tossed him into the pile.

"Hey little brother, we need to welcome you back," Kurt said, as he, Jake, and another groom grabbed a loudly protesting Markie toward the golden pile. Within three feet away, Kurt let go, and went behind them.

Markie couldn't even wonder what he was doing, when Kurt tackled him, hurtling them both into the pile.

Two hours later, with both their hair combed clean of hay, the brothers made their way to the kitchen. Upon entering, Markie realized that he hadn't seen Jack. He turned to as Kurt, but his older brother looked strangely detached. He was already thinking of the assignment in two days.

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'WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!!'


	23. Oh! The drama!

When Vert came to, he was greeted by his father's bruised, and anxious face.

"Dad," He started to get up, but was immediately pushed back down gently.

"Lie still for a moment. They gassed you, if you get up to soon, you'll get extremely dizzy."

Vert mumbled an okay, he was tired anyway. He looked around. Fifteen Silencerz drivers were spread about the semi-large cell. They were tending to the others, that were apparently still unconscious.

The cell was dimly lit, most of the light came from the door. The door was actually an electrical screen. But instead of the normal light blue, or white color of electricity, it was green. (One hundred imaginary dollars to the first person to guess where they are!) There were no cots of any kind. It was cold, but not damp.

Vert tried sitting up, and this time his father helped. He still got a little dizzy, so he leaned against the wall. For the first time, he noticed his dad had his driving suit on.

"What'd they do to you?" Looking at his dad again, Vert noticed his battered look.

"Nothing to worry about," He smiled at his son reassuringly. Vert nodded, knowing that his father didn't want anymore questions about it.

In actuality, Major Wheeler had been interrogated for hours. He wasn't sure, though, if the men that interrogated him were just some guerillas hired to do some dirty work, or terrorists. Whoever they were, they knew how to beat someone to a bloody pulp.

They had hit him with the butt of their guns, until he could barely think. They forced him to drink horrible concoctions until he vomited. Cut him, broke his hand, then shot it. After a while, they figured they could get no information out of him, and dragged him back to the cell. The hand had been bandaged up as well as possible, but he really needed a doctor.

Vert, after looking his father over carefully, decided he wasn't satisfied with that answer. His dad's right hand was bandaged, and even in this light, he could tell it was discolored. Every time he moved he winced, or breathed in sharply. He looked sick, almost like he was about to faint. Vert had never seen his dad this weak. And it scared him.

"Dad, how bad did they hurt you?" He asked once more.

"You don't need to worry about it. I'll be fine."

"I want a straight answer Dad, what did they do to you?"

Major Wheeler smiled, and shook his head, "You sound just like you're mom."

"Dad, that's not an answer."

They," He paused for a moment. His son didn't need to worry about this, "They asked me some question."

"Asked questions? That's it." Vert said, not exactly buying it.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it."

"Sir! One of the women's waking up," One of the drivers interrupted their conversation.

They both walked up, it was Karma. Vert was glad, he had noticed that Shirako didn't have his headphones on, and Karma would do a better job of calming the Asian down than he would. However, he kind of wished it was Lani. His dad really needed some help.

"Miss, could you please lie still for a few more seconds?"

"I think I'm well enough to sit up, thank you," Karma wasn't too happy to see a Silencer looking down at her when she woke up.

She got up, but was so suddenly over come with an extreme feeling of vertigo, that she fell back. She would've hit her head on the ground, if one of the drivers hadn't caught her.

"Thanks," She said through gritted teeth. She leaned back, and relaxed. The driver holding her looked extremely uncomfortable, and Vert looked away, trying to keep his laughter in. What would Taro say, if he saw this? The blonde shot a look at the Maniac, checking to see if he was still out. He was.

Karma suddenly became aware of the warm body holding her, and blushed a deep scarlet. She sat back up, and mumbled her apology. Vert was about to burst out laughing, so he buried his head into his father's shoulder, who, in turn, looked over at his only child, and nearly broke into laughter himself.

"I'm Karma Eiss," He looked up at the brunette's embarrassed face.

"Major Jack Wheeler, Vert's father," He said, shaking the hand she offered.

Karma looked around. It looked as though, the Silencerz were more friend than enemy.

Vert finally calmed down enough to look at Karma, without laughing. Unfortunately, right then, Taro awoke with a groan. Vert's dad went to greet him, so the eighteen-year-old smashed his face against the back of the nearest Silencer, who looked back, annoyed.

The first thing Taro heard was, "Sir, please don't sit up yet."

The next thing he heard was, "Taro, are you okay?"

Anybody want to guess who anxiously asked that? I'll give another one-hundred imaginary dollars to whoever guesses it first.

"I'm fine," he looked over at Vert, "Is he okay?"

Karma blushed, "He's fine. Just a little emotional right now."

"I've been meaning to ask," The Major interrupted anymore conversation on the subject, "Where were you all when you were gassed."

By now, Taro was sitting up, "The Acceledrome. Why?"

"I wasn't sure if you were driving or not." _If you were, I'd have to kill Kurt Wylde when we next meet. _He added mentally, before continuing, "It doesn't really matter, we were driving when it happened."

Karma looked around and counted, "I didn't know there were so many of you."

The older man just smiled, "Exactly."

During the next hour, the rest of the drivers woke up. Shirako, just as Vert predicted, freaked out when he found out that he didn't have his headphones on. It took Karma nearly thirty minutes to calm him down.

The guards, one young woman, and two men, looked in during the 'episode.' Once they figured out why he was acting like that, the younger of the men went to fetch the oh-so-precious item. He returned five minutes after Shirako had quieted down, but it was still a good thing. The Asian had gone into shock. How someone does that over headphones, I will never know.

When Lani woke up, the first thing she asked was, "Where's Jack?"

At first, the Silencerz had looked at her in shock. Someone they didn't really know, asked where their leader was? And she used his first name?! Who did she think she was?!?

The other drivers, knowing who she was talking about, suddenly became a little worried. What would they do with the dog?

"I hope they didn't kill him! What would Bob say?" Vert said. It was then that they soldiers realized that they weren't talking about the major.

"I think they would've killed him when they entered the Acceledrome," Lani answered.

"Did you see him before we were gassed?" Taro enquired.

"Yeah, he was tranquilized."

"Who on earth is Jack and Bob?" Asked a Silencer, whose name happened to be Aaron.

"Jack is a dog, and Bob is his owner," Shirako answered matter-of-factly. His headphones were hanging around his neck, he just needed to know he had them to be comforted."

"That doesn't answer the question. Who is Bob?" Makenzie, another driver asked. There were four female drivers among the Silencerz.

Tork shrugged, "We don't know. We met him in the realms. He drives a black car."

"Oh, Bob." Jerry, an African-American, said.

"You know him?" Lani asked hopefully.

Jerry shrugged, "Sort of. He was a Drifter."

Dr. Tezla was awake by then, and asked, "Was he trying enter the Acceledrome?"

"Actually," Maj. Wheeler answered, "he had already entered the Acceledrome."

"What?!" Tezla was furious, "You sent someone to spy on me!"

"No, Peter," The officer said coldly, "He was there to keep an eye on the Drones. Though, he could've taken back the what was rightfully ours."

"Rightfully yours?! I invented the technology! If anyone had a right to it, it was me!"

"Of course. Except for the fact that the government bought it from you. At a very modest price too."

They all turned toward the new voice, which came from the back of the room.

Vert's face lit up, "Alec! Banjee! Dan! We thought you guys were dead!"

"That's what they wanted you to think," Dan Dresdan, who had been the speaker previously, said, jerking his head in the direction of the guards.

While Vert, Lani, and Taro, (to a degree…) re-united with Alec and Banjee, Dan stood apart. Mostly with the Silencerz. They noticed he looked…detached. Sort of.

The look on his face, the way he was standing. It reminded them of the way Kurt had acted a few days before he left. It wasn't exactly a huge personality change. But, he almost seemed like…more of a leader type of person. He became meticulous, he spoke with an authoritive voice. He seemed more at ease, and unattentive. But, if someone did something: picked something up, said something strange, moved awkwardly, even drove differently, he noticed. He was more aware, he just didn't look like he was. He had been even more standoffish. At first it seemed kind of like a shy sort, but the way he handled himself was far from clumsy. He would walk with an air of importance, but you didn't seem to think he was proud, too good for them, sort of attitude. Like, he was friendly, but you knew he could turn on you at any time. He hid his thoughts and emotions behind a mask. It was strange.

Whatever it was, Dan had it now. In charge, yet humble, or meek. Somehow they knew that now, he should be respected. Though it may have been because he had obviously been beaten badly.

His left cheek was purple, black, yellow, and red (colors!). He walked with a limp, blood was matted into his hair. His breath seemed ragged. His right arm was in a makeshift sling, indicating that it was broken.

"Man…What happened to you?" Tork asked.

"Nothing I wouldn't expect."

What was that supposed to mean?

The guards were watching the whole thing. Noticing the puzzled look n their faces, the oldest of the three spoke up, "He's a Drifter. Of course he expected it."

The two street-racing teams looked astonished. Every major gang, street-racing team, and major bad-guy criminals (sorry for the poor use of names, but hopefully you get the picture. The last one is, the guys that take forever to catch.) knew what a Drifter was. Very few met one, knowing what they were, and lived to tell about it.

If they were gang, they'd have taken over the country. Which I suppose would actually make them mafia. Word on the street was, they could kill with a single shot, aiming for a second at least. Some were rumored to have been hit with six bullets and lived.

One gang in New York had actually caught one. They said it was by clever strategy on their part, but I suspect it was quite by accident, or chance, as some would call it. They had beaten the guy with anything they could get their hands on. Throughout it all the person didn't cry out in pain, and didn't talk.

They were caught, and the agent saved. No one knew how they found the place. The gang had it for two years without anyone being able to figure out where it was. And, they were found one day after they captured the agent. I'm not sure how, but the story spread like wild fire in the criminal communities. If you were a big-time "bad guy" you'd better watch out. They were good.

Dr. Tezla had heard of them through the Silencerz, "You sent two to spy on me?!"

Major Wheeler was getting agitated, "For the last time! They were not working for the Silencerz!"

Before this could be discussed further, a clunking sound was heard coming their way. Four Drones came, and stopped in front of the cell. In their midst, was Kadeem.

For a long while, no on knew what to say. They thought he was dead. He fell, Kurt and Markie had both seen it. How?

The green screen disappeared. He, and the Drones walked in.

"Being half-robot comes in handy, when falling." Kadeem laughed. It was far from joyful. It wasn't the 'mwuhahaha" laugh, it was far more sinister and disturbing.

They al felt chills travel up their spine. Lani gave an involuntary shudder. He looked hideous. Wires came from his upper torso, connecting him to the mechanical legs he used to walk. Half of his head had metal plates, his eyes glowed green. For the first time, they knew what Markie must've felt when he had first seen Kadeem. Knowing what could happen to him. Not being able to logically think like a human, because of all these mechanical things, influencing your thoughts. The pain he might've endured. They figured he had told the Drones their location. They had forgiven him. But now it was more clear why, in his semi-conscious state, he would tell. The one thought probably went through his mind, knowing the ever present knowledge of what he would become if he didn't tell them But the pain was so overwhelming, he said it without knowing. Now they understood it more.

"Kadeem…" Vert was at loss for words, "How…Why…You've become one of them now."

"Didn't Kurt tell you already? Or maybe Wylde did. Though, he didn't want to talk much when he was here."

"What do you want Kadeem?" Alec asked. Banjee looked a little mad. Everyone else looked shocked. Even the Silencerz were surprised. In his report, Kurt had told Major Wheeler what happened when they went to save Markie.

"The same thing Gelorum wanted. The accelechargers, and the wheel."

Vert's shock was replaced by rage. Kadeem was a Drone. He was probably the one who ordered for his Dad to get interrogated. It was his fault he was hurt. He lunged. A Drone grabbed him. Something flashed out of it's hand, and he threw him back. Vert landed on the floor, the back of his shoulder was bleeding. He'd been stabbed.

Kadeem and his 'escort' left. In half an hour, Vert had a fever. In an hour he was delirious. In two hours, he was throwing up.

Joyce, a Silencer, grimly announced, "They have crystals."

* * *

**Meek actually means power under control. Its literal meaning is, a bridled stallion. Just so you guys don't think it's something else.**


	24. French Toast

It was 4:30 AM. Everything was quiet, and still. A few horses were clumped together in the field. It was cold out. Thirty degrees Fahrenheit. Kurt walked over to the stables. He headed for the tack room, and grabbed a saddle and bridle.

Heading for the field, he whistled. A minute passed when Unbridled Spirit came galloping toward him. The ebon colored horse jumped the fence, and landed half a foot away from Kurt.

Kurt stroked the horse for a minute, and then put the tack on. He mounted, backed Spirit up, and jumped over the fence. They galloped passed sleeping mares, and dozing stallions.

Ten minutes later, they approached another area. Again they jumped over the fence. This area held colts and fillies that would soon be broken in and sold. Another then minutes passed, and they jumped over the last fence.

They entered a more heavily wooded area. They turned left, and began going up a hill. By the time they reached the top, Kurt's face was numb, and Spirit was sweating slightly. At the top, some of the area was cleared, giving you a good view of the land, owned by the Wylde family. That side of the hill actually had a cliff, the base meeting the edge of the lake.

This was Kurt's favorite time of day. One morning, around the same time, when he was six, his father took him out here to watch the sun rise. They still had about two more hours, but that didn't matter. They were spending time together.

They did it again the next morning, this time, Jo and his mom came along. At first, he was annoyed that it wasn't just him and his dad. When they got there, however, it didn't matter. His parents had a surprise. Mom was pregnant.

Kurt smiled at the memory. He and his sister had looked at each other, both with mouths open, and eyes as big as saucers. They were going to have a little brother or sister! The nine months following this announcement, they argued whether it was a boy or a girl.

They were seven when Markie was born. Hey marveled at how small he was, how big his eyed were, and how much he had to eat. Sure, they had seen their baby pictures, and heard about when they were babies, but this was different.

They liked everything about Markie. They thought they would never _not_ like him. Until he cried. To them, it seemed more like screeching. All the adults, of course, pampered him for it. But both Kurt and Jo wanted him to shut up and stay that way.

When their parents died, Kurt took bother his siblings up here to tell them. He could've told them at the house. But this was their parent's favorite place. Twilight was their favorite time. That's when he told them. The sun had been setting. All he could think about after he said it, was about all those times spent there just talking.

When their twentieth birthdays came up, Jo took Kurt to this spot. Tied to a tree, was a five month old black German Shepherd puppy. They named it Jack. After their father. Kurt had given her a five year old white mare. Three years before, he and his father decided to act like they were selling the filly. Jo had her eye on the horse. She didn't act like it, but she was heart-broken. The plan was, the friend would keep it, until Jo's twentieth birthday. Two months after she received the horse, Jo died.

Kurt personally took care of the horse. Whenever his birthday came up, or the anniversary of her death, he gave the horse special attention. He did it early in the morning, when nobody was awake. He didn't like crying in front of people.

Kurt pulled a Bible out of the saddle bag, and began reading out of the book of Psalms.

**Psalms 23**

"_The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want._

_He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters,_

_He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake._

_Even though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, comfort me._

_You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows._

_Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."_

**Psalm 91**

"_He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty._

_I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God whom I trust.'_

_Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence._

_He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be His shield and rampart._

_You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,_

_Nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday._

_A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you._

_You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked._

_If you make the Most High your dwelling- even the Lord, who is my refuge-_

_Then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent._

_For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;_

_They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone._

_You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpant._

'_Because he loves me,' says the Lord, 'I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name._

_He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him._

_With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.'"_

Then he turned to Matthew, and read out of chapter 10, verses 28-31:

"_Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but can not kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell._

_Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father._

_And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. _

_So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."_

Kurt closed the book. He ten closed his eyes, and prayed. He gave thanks for the days he's been given. He prayed for protection. This was the day he would look for the Silencerz, Teku, and Metal Maniacs. He prayed for their safety, and for a sense of peace. After he said 'amen,' he opened his eyes.

The sun was rising. The land was bathed in a soft orange, the lake sparkled. The horses stirred, he could see the grooms coming out for the days work.

In the distance, a silver car came down the drive. The extension came up out of the lake, and the whirl-pool was seen once more. Rebekah Anderson has arrived.

"What's she doing here?" Kurt whirled to see Markie come out of the wood on Peregrine.

"Mission," his reply was curt.

"Oh," Markie kind of already knew. Whenever Kurt came out here to read his Bible this early, it usually meant he had a mission coming up.

Kurt looked at his brother closely. He looked pale. Sure it was cold. But most people get a rosy tint to their cheeks when they've been out for a bit. Markie's cheeks were slightly pink, but not enough to chase away the almost sickly look to his skin.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine." The answer was rather sharp. It reminded Kurt of himself, when he was injured. He had a habit of going on, no matter what, until he collapsed. He wouldn't let anyone know how badly he felt until he had to. This usually drove Doc nuts.

The way Markie responded, thought, wasn't like him. He usually complained that he didn't fell well. It almost always got him out of work.

Kurt put the Bible back, and mounted. The brothers turned to go. Once he came up along side Markie, Kurt grabbed his arm, and stuck something in there.

"Hey!" Markie exclaimed, trying to pull away. "What was that for?!"

Instead of answering immediately, Kurt looked at a small device in his hand. He had pulled it out of the bag, when putting the Bible away. It was something Drifter used to check blood samples, just to make sure there wasn't anything bad in your system. I have no idea why he had it in his saddle bag. Maybe it's just in case he runs into…rabid, animals…of some kind. Maybe.

They had both stopped their horses. Markie glared at his older brother. Kurt, however, didn't seem to notice. As a Drifter, he had been trained to hide his emotions. It was mostly used for interrogations. Because of this, Markie learned to look for other signs that might give him a clue as to what Kurt was thinking.

What he noticed, worried him. Kurt's jaw was set. He had gripped the reigns tighter. And his breathing became more even and controlled. His eyes also seemed to be out of focus.

Markie waited nervously for a few more seconds. Maybe he was just imagining things. He really hadn't been feeling that great lately. He kind of thought it was just from not moving around too much for a couple of weeks.

He brought Peregrine to the other side of Kurt. This way, he could use his robot arm to grab the device. Before Kurt noticed, Markie had snatched it away.

"Markie! Give it back!"

"Why? What's wrong if I look…" He paused as he read the result. His voice got quiet, "At it." He looked back up at his brother, his face pale with fear.

"I've been poisoned?" I suppose it would be worth noting, that the poison was an alien bacteria that would take a considerable amount of research to find the antidote. Poor guy, he's so much fun to hurt.

Kurt's face softened, "It'll be okay. You've obviously had it for a while now. Your body's probably fighting it really well, and it shouldn't be too bad. Most poisons kill quickly, since this hasn't already, you most likely have a lot more time before it really begins it's effect. Just go see Doc today."

Markie nodded. Man, he hoped so much that Kurt was right. They started towards the house again.

"Hey," Markie was jerked out of his thoughts. He looked over at his brother, who promptly asked, "Wanna race?"

Markie sort of smiled, and nodded. They paused for half a second, making sure the horses were abreast, and then spurred the animals into full gallop.

Black beside red, most of the time they were neck and neck. Sometimes one pulled ahead of the other. Both riders were holding onto the manes. At this speed, reigns were almost completely useless.

Kurt glanced over at his brother. Markie was looking straight forward, concentrating. They were nearing the house.

Fifty yards. Both horses were beginning to sweat.

Forty yards. Kurt and Markie started pushing the horses harder.

Thirty yards. Grooms started moving out of the way.

Twenty yards. They could see Rebekah and Nolo watching from the windows.

Ten yards. The horses starting biting at each other.

Five yards. The fence.

Bother riders could feel the horses gather themselves. They jumped. Unfortunately, when the horses jumped, they got too close to each other. They made contact. A slight collision. When the horses landed, they stumbled. The brothers fell off their mounts.

The horses got up fine. They went up to their owners who were each getting up. Besides being a little dusty, both riders were fine. In fact, you would've thought that something hilarious happened, for they were both laughing hysterically.

Of course, to the average passerby it looked funny to see two full grown men falling of their horses. However, to everyone that saw it, (with the exception of Nolo, and Rebekah) they all sighed in relief when they got up. Falling off a horse was no picnic, and if you got caught by the horses hooves…well, let's just say you want to be careful while riding. Not that riding is fun.

When they entered the house, they were still laughing.

"What did you boys do?" Mrs. Murray asked, instantly suspicious.

"We-gasp- we fell-wheeze- we fell of our horses!" Markie answered, then broke off guffawing.

Nolo and Rebekah looked in.

"Hey," Nolo nudged the Drifter.

"Hmm?" She looked over.

"Did you see them hit their heads?"

She thought for a moment. "I don't think so. But, it was kind of hard to see. I wonder if breakfast is ready."

"I hope so. I'm hungry."

"Yeah. Was she making French Toast?"

"I think so. That's what she said anyway. Is it good?"

Rebekah looked over at him. "Are you kidding? Haven't you had it before?"

"No."

Her eyes widened, "Why not?!"

He shrugged, "I don't know. Too busy racing I guess."

She looked at him for a moment. "That is so sad! You know, there are more important things in life than racing!"

"No there isn't!" They both looked up, Markie stood there, mouth open.

Kurt looked at him, "Yeah there is."

"Like what?!" His little brother still didn't believe this.

Kurt shrugged, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe," He paused, and sniffed, "French toast?"

"Yes." They turned toward the cook. "It's ready if ya'll want some."

Once they were all sitting at the table, Rebekah closely watched as Nolo took his first bite.

Then, he caught her starting. "What are you doing?!"

"Watching to see if you like it! Duh!"

"Well, I don't like being watched like that! You're freaking me out!"

She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by her partner, "Anderson, don't stare. That's really rude. I thought you were more mature than that!"

"Hey! Who asked you pig head? Seriously! What am I supposed to say now? Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't know it would hurt your feelings!"

"Grow up! I you wanted to know if he liked it, all you have to do is ask!"

"Leave it to you to ruin a perfectly good day!"

"Too bad you day won't be getting any better."

"Stop it both of you!" They turned to face a frustrated Mrs. Murray, who was wielding a rolling pin." Do you want to finish breakfast before you leave?"

They both rolled their eyes, and nodded.

"Then I suggest you be quiet, and eat."

They responded by grumbling.

"Good. Now then, how's the French Toast Nolo?"

"It's great. I can't believe I haven't had it before."

"Excellent."

After an hour had passed, both Drifter finally made ready to leave. Nolo went outside to play with laddie. He had become quite attached to the horse. Markie followed Kurt and Rebekah to the under water garage. He watched Kurt, checking to make sure everything was there, before talking.

"Big mission?"

Kurt looked up, "Yeah. We'll be going into the Realms, but we'll be exiting out the mountain base."

Markie nodded. The mountain base was the fifth known way to enter the realms, via wheel hologram. There were countless place for people to go to the realms through portals like the one they used for the highway 35 races.

Kurt looked over at Rebekah, who was putting on her vest, "You ready?"

"Yeah," she answered.

"Then lets go."

"Kurt," Markie said suddenly.

"Be careful. Will ya?"

Kurt smiled, "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Markie nodded.

Rebekah was already in her car, she was using one of the cars Kurt had made, she only used them when going through the realms.

Kurt got into his. Markie headed toward the computer, and opened the Storm Realm. The two cars headed for it.

A soon as it opened, Markie headed to his own car. He had to get to Doc. He watched both cars vanish before leaving.

* * *

**Hey, I know that the Scripture might've been a little awkward for some of you.(To be quite honest, it was a little awkward for me.) I had just used it to show how he prepared himself for his missions. Just letting' you know. Oh! How do ya like Rebekah?**


	25. Jack Bauer

**This chapter is called Jack Bauer, not becuase of some "Jack Bauer" action, but because, if you don't count the prologue as a chapter, this is the 24th chapter. And around my house, 24 is pretty much the same thing as Jack Bauer, and vice versa. Yes, I know, it's sad.**

* * *

Vert tossed and turned, mumbling incoherent things. His face covered with sweat. His head hurt, he felt so weak, and hungry. But he couldn't understand why he felt this way. He was too sick to think.

Major Wheeler sat beside his son, feeling helpless. There was nothing he could really do. There were no blankets. The guards wouldn't give them anything to help him. Not that they would have anything. This place didn't have mosquitoes, which was the only way to get malaria. What they really needed was a crystal. What was the opposite of a swamp? Which crystal was the one they needed?

"So," Monkey broke the silence. "What are these crystals?"

Dan answered, "The crystals are what make up the realms. Vert here," He waved a hand in the sick teen's direction, "was stabbed with a Swamp realm crystal."

Lani looked up, "Does that mean this isn't something we can treat like normal malaria?"

"Pretty much. You need the opposite crystal to heal that. For every realm, there is an opposite. Like Newton's third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

"Isn't that for physics?" Alan, the youngest of the Silencerz interrupted.

"Hey, I'm just trying to make a point. Anyway, if you were stabbed by the Lava realm crystal, you'd need the Ice realm to 'heal' you."

Suddenly they became aware of a commotion out in the hall. There was a lot of cursing, growling, and a dragging noise.

After a few minutes of waiting, they finally found out what was making the noise. Five men came to the cell, dragging a, very angry, muzzled Jack. When they were finally able to put the half-wolf dog in, the five men stood there panting.

The biggest of the men growled, "The boss should've killed that dog."

"yeah," A red-headed chap agreed. "But why didn't he?"

"'Cuz. He didn't want to. So we should leave it at that." The oldest of the group, about fifty, said.

Once they all caught their breath, the men left.

"Here Jack!" Lani called. The big do came over. She took the muzzle off. Once she did that, Jack opened his mouth wide, it felt good to do that again. The muzzle had been extremely tight.

Jerry looked the dog over, "So this is Jack. Big dog."

"And about the most loyal creature you'll ever find." Major Wheeler said. Beside him, Vert coughed, and started shivering violently. The major quickly pulled his son into a tight hug, hoping the body heat would help some.

Banjee took off his jacket, and handed it to him, "Here, this might help."

"Thanks." The shivering didn't stop completely, but after a few minutes, it wasn't so violent.

Jack, who had been stretching, and receiving coddling from Lani, the whole time, looked curiously over. After a moment or two, he trotted over, and nudged Vert, signaling to the elder Wheeler that he wanted him to put his son back on the floor. At first, the major was naturally reluctant, but, remembering that the dog had some rescue training, he complied. Once this was done, Jack promptly lied on top of the young street racer. Within minutes, the shivering stopped.

Taro looked thoughtfully at the dog.

"Did you know that he would do that?" he asked the elder Wheeler.

"Yes. The dog's saved my life, twice, by doing that."

"Twice?" Lani asked in surprise.

"The first time I was on a mountain. Some men were with me, apparently something very odd had been going on, and we were asked to check things out. There was an avalanche, and we were somehow separated. Next thing I knew, I was being dug out of the snow, and Jack was being told to lay on me." The dog lifted his head at the sound of his name. Once he figured out that they didn't want him, he put it back down.

"And the second time?" Lani asked after a slight pause.

"The second time, I was with his owner going through the realms. W were in the Ice realm, and I hit a patch of black ice. This resulted in losing control, and there happened to be a river below the track, and you can guess what happened next."

"What's Bob's real name?" Porkchop inquired. "You've been avoiding using his name whenever you talk about him. So, who is he?"

"Heh," Alec sort of laughed, "Dan knows, and he won't tell us. We ask him, and he gets as quiet as a mouse."

"He's been in the realms before?" Karma asked.

"Yeah, at least according to the guards," answered Banjee.

There was some silence.

"Can crystals kill you?" everyone looked, in surprise, at Shirako. The young Asian was looking at his sick teammate.

The Silencerz looked at each other nervously.

Joyce finally answered, "Yeah. They can."


	26. Ready or not, here they come!

The blue orb appeared within the golden rings. Two black cars exited form it. Two people got out, a man, and a woman. They were both wearing dark clothes, both had silenced pistols drawn.

The man was tall, with a 6' 3" frame, and black hair. His dark complexion was due to hours of working with horses outside, and intensive military training. The woman was slightly shorter, at six feet, and had strawberry-blonde hair drawn up in a tight ponytail. She was not of fair complexion, but she was not as dark as her partner.

It looked like no one was there, so they put their guns under their jackets.

"Hello Kurt." A mechanical voice said behind them.

They both whirled, the man smiled, "Hey there Sparky. C'mere, let me fix your head."

The robots head was set on his neck at a weird angle. As Kurt examined it, he noticed bite marks. Looks like Jack didn't get an introduction until it was too late.

"There ya go," he said, tightening the last bolt.

"Mind telling me who Sparky is, exactly?" Rebekah asked, with a look of annoyance on her face.

"Sparky was made by Monkey, one of the Metal Maniacs, out of a Drone that came through the portal with Vert, on our first day here."

"Ah. Ask him what happened."

"Why don't you? He's too friendly not to answer."

"Fine. Sparky," she began, "what happened?"

Sparky looked at her for a long time. Then he repeated the question, "What happened?"

Rebekah gave an exasperated sigh. "I don't supposed we could check his memory."

Kurt shrugged, "We could try."

"Okay. Let's do it."

He nodded. Taking a small device out of his pocket, he touched Sparky with it. The robot Maniac stiffened, and stopped moving.

Laying Sparky on the table, the two partners got to work. Rebekah set up a laptop, and took a device out, that would take any information the memory chip had and send it to the computer.

In five minutes, Kurt had the chip, and handed it over to Rebekah. She hooked it up, and started looking through various files that popped up.

"Hmm…"

Kurt looked up, "Got something?"

"Not sure. It's the last entry made before we got here. Happened a couple of days ago." She pulled it up, and burst out laughing.

"What?"

Still laughing, she pointed to the screen.

Kurt started the clip over. It was Jack circling Sparky, then attacking. A small smile came over the Drifters face. Then the screen went staticky **(Is that a word?)**, then black. The next time, it was showing them.

Kurt shook his head, "Monkey must've set a timer or something. No one could've started Sparky."

"Great." Rebekah said, rolling her eyes.

Kurt nodded his head. "Let's look around."

"Okay. I'll take Tezla's rooms, and the computer room. You can take the rest."

They split up. Kurt walked down the hallways, looking into each room. The first thing he noticed, was the fact that Karma and Lani kept their rooms very neat, and all the guys (with the exception of himself, because he wasn't there) had extremely messy rooms. His mother always told him his room looked like a tornado hit it, but he never realized that she was serious. Weird how comparisons put things in perspective.

The second thing he noticed, nothing looked like it was searched. True, some of the rooms were messy, but to a trained eye, you could tell if it was searched through or not. He kept walking. As he approached the cafeteria, he couldn't help but notice a peculiar smell.

It was then that he saw the cafeteria door. Wait-door? That door's never closed. Immediately, he sensed something was wrong. He drew the gun. Not that he would need it; after al, nobody's actually THERE!

He opened the door. He walked in. The smell hit him like a wave. But he didn't pay any attention to it. Because the first thing he saw was food. Moldy from days of just sitting there. Grooooooss!

Kurt would've walked around the room, but was beginning to get dizzy. He realized that the smell was some sort of gas, that had been there for a couple of days, and never circulated out. He quickly exited the room.

"_Wylde,"_ Rebekahs voice cackled over his headset. _"Meet me in the garage."_

"Okay." He ran through the hallways, knowing that she found something.

Entering the big room, he saw Rebekah coming through an opposite door, holding a small box. As they got closer to each other, he recognized it as a gas container.

"they were gassed," Rebekah said, approaching him. "I found this in a vent in Tezla's personal lab."

Kurt nodded. "I could smell it in the cafeteria. It never circulated."

"Well, obviously they're not here anywhere."

"That certainly answers one question."

"And brings up another one."

"Yippee."

They were both silent for a minute. Both at a loss for what to do. This is not good.

Rebekah broke the silence first, "You don't think the Drones are behind this do you?"

Kurt thought for a moment. "Could be. While we were in the realm, I couldn't find a new portal. And we know for sure that no one came through, or exited via entrances."

"Hmmm….Well, I guess now we should investigate the place that the Silencerz were lost."

"Yeah. That would be the Ice realm."

"Then to Antarctica we go!" Rebekah half-heartedly exclaimed as they both headed for their cars.

Markie got in his car. A week. That's what Doc told him. That was the longest his had to live. He wondered if he should call Kurt. No, he was on a mission. He shouldn't be bothered. Right?

Doc told him to go to Kurt's condo. Just to stay close. It was on the riverfront. Well, almost. It was next to the Louisville Slugger Stadium. Not that there would be any games.

He picked up the phone.

* * *

They had just found the wreckage, when his cell rang.

"Wylde." He answered.

"_Kurt?"_ It was Markie. And he sounded a little scared.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked, while signaling for Rebekah to go ahead.

There was silence.

"Markie?"

"_Doc said I had a week."_

It was Kurt's turn to be quiet. "A week."

"_Yeah."_

"Oh man…" He murmured, running his hand through his hair.

"_Kurt?"_

"Yeah?"

"_I'm scared."_

"I know." I'm scared too. "Don't worry. It's going to be okay." Oh God please let it be okay!

"_Doc told me to stay at your condo. I'm heading there now."_

"Good."

"_Kurt?"_

"Yeah?"

"_I love you."_

Tears sprang up into his eyes. When was the last time he heard his little brother say that? "I love you too bro."

* * *

Markie nodded, he was also crying. "Just make sure you come back."

"_Okay."_

"Promise?"

"_Yeah, I promise."_

"'Kay. See ya then."

"_See ya."_

* * *

Rebekah watched as her partner got out of his car. She had already found ample evidence of Drones. Oh, and a couple of dead guys. Pentagon was right; there was someone working with the robots.

From the look on his face, Rebekah knew that the call had been serious. From years of working with him, she knew that his mind was no longer on the case. From experience, she knew that she had to get him thinking about it, for success.

So, that's just what she did.

* * *

**We's almost done! Tell me how ya think it's gonna end. If you have a long explanation, PM me. We've got about three more chapters. Happy waiting!**


	27. It's always darkest

**Okay, first of all, this chapter is a bit darker then the others. My brother, who has actually read the whole story, told me that the end gave _him_ chills. However, he's younger then me. I just felt you still needed a warning. It's a veeeery evil chapter.**

* * *

Vert threw up again. It was beginning to stink in that cell. He mostly vomited water. Mixed with blood. Major Wheeler began to worry.

Nobody talked much now. Jack got restless, and short-tempered. The dog began to snap at people for no apparent reason.

The two street racing teams began to wonder why they were all, seemingly, left to rot in the cell. The Silencerz were wondering if someone was going to come and get them, or if the government had abandoned them. Alec, Banjee, and Dan stopped wondering ages ago.

The guards were circulated every two hours. None of them were sympathetic. All of them were cruel. They wanted to kill the prisoners. But the boss still needed them. No one knew why. They wished they did.

The Silencerz, and Dan, were now desperately looking for a way out. Maybe, they could overpower the guards. Hopefully, with added weapons, they'd be able to somehow get out.

But, there was still the problem of Vert. The kid was sick. He needed a crystal. They didn't know which Drone had the right crystal. And, what crystal they needed.

* * *

A man, and a woman watched the many screens before them.

"I still don't see why you need them," the woman said. She had silvery blonde hair, and cold pale blue eyes. Her skin was white, from the lack of sunlight.

"Because of him," the man answered, pointing to screen separated from the others. The man had no accent, and almost no emotion. The woman had worked with him for years, but was still not sure where he came from. He wasn't American, that's all she knew.

On the screen, there were two people. Also, a man and a woman. They were in an icy region, looking through car wreckage.

"Kurt Wylde?"

"Yes. I need him to come here."

"But why? You've already hurt his brother. And you said yourself, the poison you injected was one that very few people have ever been able to get the antidote for."

"There is still a chance that they will find the antidote. Drifters have a way of finding those kind of things. And no doubt, they have already detected the poison."

The woman was silent for a moment.

Then she spoke, "Why do you need to hurt him?"

The man turned around. "Haven't you seen my face lately?" he asked sarcastically. "He must pay for what he did to me."

His face was scarred. One eye was completely white. Half his face dipped in, then sharply back out. Knotted, hard, ugly. It was excruciatingly painful. He couldn't smile. He couldn't laugh. He could barely eat. It hurt to talk. That whole half of his body was scarred.

"I never told you how it happened, did I?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"I used to be the best assassin in the world. Everyone wanted me. I made millions. I killed Presidents, generals, anyone. I even killed some people's ex-spouses. No job was too small. And I always got away with it.

"Guns. Knives. Poison. Even my bare hands. I could kill a thousand ways. Then one day, I was assigned to kill the President of the United States of America.

"Nothing could've gone wrong that day. My gun was loaded. Aimed at his head. I had a quick exit. Everything was perfect. Until I was about to shoot.

"Then, Kurt Wylde was only nineteen. Somehow, he knew I was there. Right before I took my shot, he busted in. No one had ever attacked me, and lived. But he grabbed me, and broke my arm. Before I could even shoot! I managed to stab him twice before he could kill me. I ran into another room. He threw a grenade in after me. It exploded five feet away from me. I still don't know how I survived. Nor can I remember how I got away. But I did. And now, he must pay for ruining my career."

The woman nodded. "How will you kill him?"

His pale gray eye shone excitedly. "This place is full of mines."

"We've been walking on mines?" she asked, horrified.

"Yes. But they won't be turned on, until they are all in sight of the portal. And, only _he_ can activate them."

"What if it doesn't work?"

A clunking noise was heard. Kadeem entered.

"Are they all ready?" The man asked.

Kadeem smiled wickedly. "Yes. And more Drones are being made."

For the first time, the woman smiled. Coldly. "I almost hope the mines are defective."

"Oh?"

"I like gruesome and violent deaths."

If he could've, the man would've smiled right back. "Then, I will make sure, that the prisoners will die, just the way you like it."

A black X-88 hovered just outside the room. A small group in Pentagon had listened in on the conversation. They tried to radio the two Drifters. But it wasn't working. They all suddenly felt a chill.

* * *

**Just two more chapters!!!!! Does anyone think they know how it will end??????!!!!!**


	28. Befor the Dawn

They had indeed found enough evidence to know where to go. Hot Wheels City. Which was exactly why they were traveling across an expanse of desert, towards highway 35.

Once on the road, they began traveling to the abandoned cube. From there, Kurt would start up the portal by using all of the crystals. That would take them to their destination without having to go through all the realms.

"So, tell me again why we're going through this portal, instead of the Wheel?" Rebekah asked.

"They highway 35 portal hasn't been opened in at leas two years. At least, not since the Wheel's portals have been opened by Tezla, and the Drones. No one would suspect us entering that way."

"Oh. Since this conversation couldn't possibly be even more incredibly boring, did you know that in the eighteenth century, a woman was considered an old maid at, I think it was twenty-two, or twenty-three?"

"Hmm. That's interesting. In that case, Babushka? Are you sure you can carry on with this mission?"

Rebekah stiffened, and tightened her grip on the steering wheel. "Babushka? Babushka?! YOU LITTLE-"

"Here we are." Kurt cut her off, with an overly cheerful, sing-song voice.

Both Drifters sped up, even though they ere already going well over 300 mph, when the portal opened. They entered on a track that rose above a huge body of water. The city ahead of them, black and green. The sky above them, dark and foreboding.

Rebekah smiled, "Ah, yes. The classic bad guy home. I love these places."

They drove on, until they came to the edge of the city. They pulled into an alley, and Kurt pulled up the schematics of the metropolis.

"Looks like the holding cells are on the west side. Turn on stealth mode; let's not make a big entrance.

Rebekah sighed tiredly, "I thought we were already avoiding that by entering through the _other_ portal."

"You know what I mean, "Kurt said, glaring at her car.

"Whatever. Let's just go."

"Weren't we going to anyway?"

"Shut up."

The cars seemed to disappear, and the engines quieted. The only sound was the whisper of the wind. The only thing one could see of the cars, was the occasional flicker of the wrong building, as they adjusted to the surroundings.

In a few minutes, they pulled up to a plain building.

"Is this it?" Rebekah asked.

"This is it."

"Looks like it."

"Well, it is."

"I know, you've already said so."

"Then stop asking."

"Fine."

By this time, they were both out of the cars, and looking for a way in.

"They've got an alarm system on the windows," Kurt pointed out.

"Yippee. Hmm."

"What?"

"The door doesn't."

"It doesn't?"

"Well, I can't see anything, and the computer's not picking up anything."

"How 'bout cameras?"

"Yeah. There's one above the door."

"I'll deactivate it."

Kurt got on his computer, and hacked into the camera. Inside, he saw three guards, and it looked like a couple of large cells. He thought he saw people in one of the cells. Zooming in, he recognized them as Silencerz. Then, he turned the camera off."

"Yep. They're definitely in there." He announced.

"Good. Wanna go through the door?"

"Yeah. Confidently though. Like we're supposed to be there."

"Like, no charging. No stealth."

"Exactly. We walk calmly in, kill the guards-"

"You sound like a psychopath."

"What?!"

"It was the way you said it."

"Let's just do our thing."

"Okay. Let's go."

They walked up to the door, and opened it.

Those poor guards. They looked up, thinking their replacements had come early. The last thing they saw was a man, and a woman, pointing guns at them.

In the cell, they watched as the guards fell, dead. But, how? They didn't hear any gunshots.

Alan smiled. He'd been waiting for this day. "Drifters!"

Dan, who hadn't moved, called out, "Hey, you've got a fan club."

"A fan club?" A female voice called back sarcastically, "I love fan clubs!"

Dan winced visibly. "Rebekah," he muttered under his breath.

"Dresdan?" A familiar voice asked, making the street racers sit up.

Dan allowed himself a small smile, and stood up. Kurt and Rebekah walked up to the screen.

"Dan!" Kurt cried out, with evident joy in his voice.

"Hey Kurt! You didn't think I was dead, did you?"

"Of course not! 'They're not dead 'till we find a body,' Right?" he said quoting an old Drifter motto. "Besides, I had a fifty dollar bet with Anderson that we'd find you. But all these computers mess with the chip. Its signal was going wacky."

"Excuse me," Rebekah cut in, with exaggerated politeness, before any talk could continue. "But we have a job to do."

Kurt just nodded slightly, and started taking off his right glove. He then held the ungloved hand on the keypad next to the door. He felt a slight tingling sensation, and a short burst of heat. The screen disappeared.

When he turned to go back in, he noticed that Vert was lying on the floor. Jack was right beside the blonde, looking at his master. Kurt just looked questioningly at Major Wheeler.

The officer looked back grimly, "They stabbed him with a crystal."

"Which one?"

"Swamp."

"Anderson," Kurt called."

"Yeah?" She looked up, from looking through the guards.

"I'm going back out to get a crystal."

"Do you need me to babysit?"

He gave her a reproving look, and nodded toward Vert."

"Oh."

"Yeah." He headed for the door. "Here Jack."

The black dog bounded out, and dutifully followed its master. Kurt smiled. It was good to have the familiar fell of a dog by his side.

Outside of the building, he opened the car door. Getting in, he reached in the back, feeling for the silver brief case. Once he found it, he opened it. His eyes quickly ran over the contents, before he grabbd the correct cylinder.

He was getting out of the car when Jack emitted a low growl. Kurt looked around, before spotting the little spy camera in the sky. Why would that be there?

The key pad.

Of course!

He didn't enter the code! He just simply short-circuited it!

Kurt ran back into the building.

"Anderson! Find another exit!" he ordered.

"What did you do this time?" She moved out of the way, as he knelt down beside Vert.

"The key pad." He answered tersely.

IT took a moment before it finally dawned on her. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" She said to no on in particular. "Why didn't we think of that?!"

Kurt ignored her, as he bent over the injured teen. He removed the jacket, and cut away at the hole the crystal made, to make it bigger.

Some of the crystal was still in there. So, he carefully pulled it out. Vert softly whimpered, making Kurt pause for a second. When it was out, he picked up the cylinder, and took the crystal out.

It looked like it was made of stone, but it was slightly transparent. On the other end, it looked like snow, but was hard as ice.

Making sure it was sharp on one end, Kurt proceeded to stick it into the wound. After a moment, he pulled it back out.

"What realm is that?" Someone asked. He was concentrating too deeply to recognize the voice.

"Mountain. Anderson, med-bag."

"Here," She handed him the dark bag. From inside it, he pulled out some gauzes, and medical tape. After patching up the wound, he began to put the jacket back on. Vert began to wake up.

At first, everything was blurry. As it came in focus, he could make out two figures above him. It was his dad and…Kurt?

"Dad?" His voice sounded a bit weak.

"Right here son."

"Kurt?"

"Hey Surfrat."

"What are you doing here?"

Kurt smiled, "I'm getting you out of here."

They were interrupted by banging at the door.

"Who is it?" Banjee called out jokingly.

"Why don't they just come in?" Karma asked.

Rebekah smiled, "I hacked into the door's circuitry. It'll stay locked to the end of time."

"Is there another door?" Kurt asked.

"Yes," She answered. "Right over here. It also goes toward the _wheel_ portal."

"Then let's go!" Monkey cried, heading for the door.

Major Wheeler was already helping his son up. Vert took a few unsteady steps, leaning on his father, before nodding; indicating that his was ready to go. Rebekah tossed the guard's guns to Dan, Major Wheeler, and Jerry.

Kurt and Rebekah went out first, making sure they could leave this way. Once sure, they waved everyone out.

Mackenzie glanced around furtively, "It sure is quiet." She said to Aaron.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Too quiet."

As if on cue, ten Drones appeared. The three Drifters took them out in minutes; but not before one got to Kurt. It grabbed him by the neck, and threw him to the ground. His head hit the ground hard, and he felts the robot's fist hit his torso. He heard bones cracking, as a sharp pain filled his chest. Before it could do something else again, Jack charged it, attacking with the ferocity of a pack of wolve's. No one messed with his master like that.

He closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. After a minute, he rolled over, and got up.

"You okay" Dan asked, concern etched on his face.

"Yeah." Kurt answered.

Rebekah looked him over, played the scene over in her head, and thought, _Liar, liar, pants on fire, hangin' on a telephone wire._ She smiled inwardly at the immature thought.

"Can we go before more Drones get here?" Monkey begged.

Rebekah turned and looked at him, "Why? The more the merrier."

The group walked on. They passed an area with sweepers in it. Another one had cars. Just passed those was the portal room. Freedom was in sight.

* * *

**Okay, one more chapter. Because it's the last one, I won't say anything at all. So, this is my good bye to the story. Even though it has one more chapter left. I had fun. Hope you guys did too.**


	29. John 15:13

"_Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friend."_

"Okay, Dan, you take a sweeper, get everyone through. Anderson, call your car and open the portal. If anymore Drones come, I'll hold them off, until everyone's gone," Kurt said.

Rebekah sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Must you always play hero?"

"Well I don't hear you volunteering," Kurt answered rather pertly.

Dan raised his had, "I'll play hero!"

"No!" The partners answered simultaneously.

Rebekah looked scathingly at him, "Aren't you supposed to get a sweeper?"

"Aren't you supposed to call your car?"

"I already did," she said. As if on cue, a black car silently drove up. "See?" Everyone saw the look of smugness on Rebekah's face.

Dan growled something under his breath.

"Dan, just get the sweeper," Kurt said.

"Wylde," Rebekah began. "I think Dan hasn't gotten the sweeper yet, because he's scared. He needs someone to go and protect him from the monsters."

At first, both Dan and Kurt were glaring at her. Then, they exchanged looks, and smiled. It was at that moment, that Rebekah realized that she said the wrong thing.

"You know what?" Dan said, adopting a horrified look. "You're right Ms.Anderson. I am scared. Will you protect me?" He asked in a voice of mock desperation. He inched closer to her, and hid behind her back, looking around furtively.

Rebekah whirled around, and lightly punched him. "I am not your babysitter!" she exclaimed, just barely keeping herself from shouting.

"But Ms. Webekah," Kurt started to plead, looking as innocent as possible, "He's tewified!"

From the look on her face, it was obvious that she was about to kill them. But, she knew she couldn't. So, she stood there, shaking with rage.

Dan started to drag her away, "Come with me, to protect me!"

Rebekah was about to protest, when the major stepped in, "That's a wonderful idea. Do go with him."

With one last huff, Rebekah turned, and went. Dan, still playing the act of a helpless child, skipped along side her.

"Stop skipping!" The amused onlookers heard her order.

"I'm not skipping. I'm frolicking," Dan answered in a happy childish voice."

"Then stop frolicking!"

"No!"

"Why not?!"

"I'm happy."

They heard her growl in frustration, but after that, they were too far away to be understood.

Kurt called his car. Before it arrived, something flashed out of the corner of his eye.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"What's that for?" The woman asked.

"Hopefully," The man replied, "It will draw his attention."

She sighed, "Why?"

"I want him away from the others when he activates the mine."

"Why?" she asked again. "Wouldn't it be easier if they all blew up?"

"I thought you wanted a more violent death for the others."

"I do. But, if he sets one off, the others will go with it."

"No. When I activate the mines to set for the chips signal, then, only one will go off when he steps on it. The others will immediately disarm, and take themselves apart. Hopefully, that will give the others survivors guilt, and make them linger longer."

Her cold lips turned up into a cold smile. "Have I ever told you I like the way you think?"

"I know. That's why I'm in charge."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"What's that?" one of the Silencerz asked. They had seen as well.

"That, is an excellent question," Kurt replied. He scanned the air, and buildings. He pulled a small object out. It was shaped like a hexagon, and opened to reveal a small computer screen. This device screened the surrounding area, showing nothing.

Satisfied that everything was safe, he walked toward the strange object. He reached the spot, and picked the object up. It was a mirror. He very suddenly go a sinking feeling.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"His ribs are broken." She said it as a statement, not a question.

"Yes. It must have been the Drone." He mused.

They were both looking at the readings of someone's body. That man had somehow found the signal from Kurt's chip. Through the chip, they could activate a mine.

He reached for a button. Without hesitating, he pressed it.

/\/\/\/\/

Kurt had dropped the mirror, and turned back. He was hurrying back to the group, when he heard the click. He immediately knew what that was, so he stopped. He began to fell panic, but he hid it from view.

Major Wheeler, having experience as both father and soldier, had noted the flash of panic across the Drifters face.

"Jerry," He called; then switched to French, "Allez voient ce qui est incorrect." Go see what's wrong.

The man nodded, checked his gun, and walked towards Kurt.

Meanwhile, the former Teku had radioed Rebekah through his headset.

"What?" she asked.

"We have a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"Just hurry," he pleaded as Jerry walked up.

"What's wrong?" The black man inquired.

Kurt took a deep breath, "Mine."

Jerry didn't say anything, shock playing across his face. He walked back to his leader.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"He's so still. It wouldn't be much of a problem for him to wait for them to get a Drone to replace him. He weighs," She glanced at the screen, "225 pounds. It wouldn't be hard to find something that weighed that much."

"Be patient," he said," The Drones are coming. He will force his friends to leave. When they are close to the portal, I will set if off."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

The sweeper pulled up. Dan ran out. Without checking his surroundings, he rushed to his friend.

"What's wrong?" He asked, out of breath.

"Mine." Kurt's voice was quiet, and steady. As if he had accepted his fate.

This did nothing to comfort Dan. "Rebekah! Find a Drone."

"I don't have to," she calmly stated.

"Anderson!"

"Dan," Kurt said firmly, "Calm down."

Dan ignored him, and directed all his attention toward Rebekah, "What do you mean you don't have to?!"

She pointed her answer.

"What?" Kurt asked, for she had pointed behind him.

"Drones," Rebekah answered. "They're coming this way."

"Leave!" He ordered.

"No! I'm not leaving you!" Dan retorted.

"Now." Kurt's voice lowered dangerously, and he drew his gun, pointing it at Dan.

Dan lingered for a moment with mixed emotions. He finally looked at the oncoming robots, and hurried to the sweeper.

Rebekah stayed. "Any messages?"

Kurt was silent. Then, giving a silent snort, "Tell them that they made me waste seven good years of service by giving me a partner like you."

"Same here, Wylde," she said, and started walking away.

Kurt suddenly remembered the conversation he had with his brother earlier that day. "Anderson!"

She turned.

"Tell Markie…Tell him I'm sorry."

Puzzled, she nodded, and headed for her car. Behind her, Kurt checked his clip, and loaded it back into the gun. He turned around to face the Drones, carefully making sure his weight didn't shift. Before he began firing, he realized that Jack was behind him.

"Jack?"

The dog cocked its head. Go on, he seemed to stay.

Kurt sighed. Jack couldn't stay here. "Go." he ordered.

The dog didn't budge. "Go home Jack!"

Again, the dog didn't move. Kurt realized that he had made the dog too faithful. So, he decided that the dog needed to fetch, or something, to leave.

So, he gave one last order to the loyal beast. "Go find Markie."

The dog, turned and ran into the sweeper.

Rebekah reached her car just as Dan began to drive to the portal. They started going up the ramp. Yards away, there was an explosion, and a brilliant white light flashed behind them.

Dan slowed down. Rebekah had anticipated this, and drove her car into the sweeper. She leapt out, practically threw Dan out of the driver's seat, and sped into the realm as the portal closed.

/\/\/\/\/\/

The scarred man pressed another button, shutting things down. The woman didn't get the gruesome and violent death she was promised. But, she delighted in watching this man's vital signs quickly die.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/

In the sweeper, Rebekah checked her cell to check for his chip's signal. It was dead. She watched as the black car sped by. Another sign. Dan sobbed behind her.

In the back, the rest of the drivers stood there in shock. Then, Vert's dad rushed up there, and started yelling at Rebekah in French.

Vert was sitting against the wall, "What's he saying?"

Taro, who had a French companion when he skied down Everest, (and therefore knew some of the language) answered, "Kurt's dead."

/\/\/\/\/\//\/\/\

Markie was stretched out on the bed, laying on his back. There was a goofy smile on his face. He had nearly fainted with relief when Doc told him the good news.

It turned out, a Drifter in Alaska had been poisoned the exact same way. The antidote was found just in time, and could be made at home. He was going to go in today to receive it.

Markie got up, and walked out onto the balcony. It overlooked the river, and to his right was the stadium. He still had the phone in his hand, and he almost called Kurt. But by now, he would have his phone turned off.

That's okay. He could wait until Kurt called him. It was such a beautiful day!

/\/\/\//\///

**It's over! I had fun. Seems just like yesterday, I was sitting down with notebook and pencil, and started on the prologue. Thanks for bearing with me. –Jimmy Candlestick**


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